


Oasis

by Dmarie1985



Category: Josh Hutcherson - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-13
Updated: 2013-08-21
Packaged: 2017-12-23 09:08:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 41,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/924544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dmarie1985/pseuds/Dmarie1985
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anything can happen on vacation. Sarah discovers this while aboard one of the worlds largest cruise ships. She and her best friend Kathlyn journey to the Caribbean for 10 days where she meets the cocky full-of-himself ladies’ man, Josh Hutcherson. At first, Sarah wants nothing to do with him, but little by little, Josh breaks her walls down and she discovers that a hot fling doesn’t have to end when the vacation does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I tore through my suitcase and left the room a mess looking for my brand spanking new, never worn before pink and turquoise bikini. If there were any hot guys on this cruise, you damn well better believe that they’d be looking in my direction. All those tireless nights kicking my own ass at the gym paid off! I was newly single, looking fabulous and ready for a much-needed 10 day vacation with my best girlfriend.

"This is your captain speaking. Please be advised that all guests must report to their muster stations immediately at 4pm for the mandatory safety demonstration. Thank you and welcome aboard the Oasis of the Seas!" I rolled my eyes. Those things were pointless. It was just a good excuse to size up the other people on the ship.

Kathlyn returned to our small, stateroom after picking up our itinerary from the guest relations desk. Our room had a balcony, which I specifically requested. I didn’t mind paying the extra cash for it. I had a tendency of getting seasick very easily, so I had to have access to fresh air in the room.

My phone rang. It was my dad. He had to call to make sure we got to Miami okay before we departed. I vented to him about how much I despised the Atlanta airport. I tried to avoid connecting there at all costs, but I think it’s a given that whenever you fly anywhere, you have to have to make an unnecessary stop at ATL. Way to start the trip off on a bad foot. I hung up after he wished us a good time and reminded us to stay safe.

"Come on, I’m feeling a pina colada to start this trip off right," I said and Kathlyn agreed. After waking up at 5am and rushing to the airport in freezing cold rain, then almost missing our connecting flight in Atlanta, we were in need of cold, fruity drinks and hot bartenders to serve them to us. We changed out of our travel clothes and into our bathing suits. Our plan was to get a head start on our tans on the pool deck so we didn’t look deathly while we were touring the islands, enjoy our fruity concoctions and scope out some of the guys who were already on board.

The sun in Miami felt heavenly on my skin. Quite a change from the dreary last couple weeks we had in Michigan. We took over a couple lounge chairs next to the pool. I wasted no time diving in. The cold water woke me up out of my dazed state of mind as I held my head under water for a few seconds.

I pulled myself out of the pool and walked back over to our chairs. I didn’t bother drying off. It was so hot, the sun did the work for me in a matter of minutes. It was time for a drink. Kathlyn and I ventured over to the pool bar, there were a few middle-aged men sitting down while their wives rubbed spf-50 on themselves by the pool. They were making small-talk with the bartender and stepped aside when they saw that we wanted to order.

“2 pina coladas, please.” Kathlyn showed Martin her room key, which acted like a credit card on board. “This one’s on me, you can buy next.” She talked about the activities we had planned on our first stop while Martin put our drinks together. We were going to be at sea for 2 days before reaching our first stop, St. Croix. Martin slid our drinks onto the bar and Kathlyn took a sip. “So after our segway tour we’ll….” She slammed her drink down and her eyes got wide, attention turning to something behind me. I seriously thought that The Hulk was there. Her face turned white and jaw fell to the floor. I gave her a questioning look.

“OH. MY. G-G-GOD!!! It’s him!” she squealed. “I heard he was going to be in the Caribbean this week but I didn't think he’d actually be HERE!” She began fanning herself and looking out through the tops of her sunglasses.

“Who on earth are you talking about?” I turned over my shoulder to see a young guy, couldn't have been older than 21, talking on his cellphone, with a younger looking guy behind him. They were looking for somewhere to sit.

“Who? Him? Who’s that?”

Martin piped in, “That’s Josh Hutcherson. I was told he’d be cruising with us this week. He’s here with his family.”

Josh Hutcherson? Where have I heard that name before? Then it hit me, of course! He was Peeta! Kathlyn dragged me to see The Hunger Games when it came out.

“Get a hold of yourself, Kat!” I shook her shoulders out of it. “He’s too young for you!”

“I don’t c-c-care! I’m in love with him, Sarah! I have to go talk to him!” I held onto her arm to stop her.

“Don’t. He’s with his family. Come on, we’ll find other guys to swoon over.” I looked back at him, the 16 year old girls who were on the pool deck already started crowding around him like flies on shit.


	2. Chapter 2

I grabbed my drink off the bar and took a nice long sip. The rum rushed through my veins, making me feel warm inside. What a good feeling. I needed it. I set my drink down beside me and rubbed suntan lotion over my pale arms, legs and face. I guess that’s what I get for living in Grand Rapids. 

I laid back, letting the sun bake me and watched some kids play Marco Polo in the pool. They were cute. My eyes glanced over to the other side of the deck where Josh was sitting, I’m assuming next to his younger brother. The girls that were surrounding him had scampered off somewhere. Kathlyn was eyeing Josh for a good 10 minutes. I shook my head at how ridiculous she was being. Oh well. She had a schoolgirl crush on a famous guy, can’t hate a girl for that. 

I had a thing for Chris Hemsworth and she didn’t say anything to me about it. I decided to let her gawk. I pulled out my copy of the last installment of 50 Shades of Grey and continued to read about the crazy sex romps between Anastasia and Christian. I wondered what it would be like to be controlled like that. I was usually the controlling one in bed. I hated it. I often fantasized about a man slamming me hard against a wall, forcing himself on me until I begged him to stop. I was so excited reading the book that my drink was gone before I knew it. I decided to get Kathlyn and I refills.

I made my way over to the bar. Martin was busy so I grabbed a seat on a barstool next to a blonde woman. I was thankful that the creepy middle-aged men were gone. 

“Oooh, that’s the best book in the whole series!” The woman gestured to the book I didn’t realize I was still carrying.

“Oh yeah, I like it a lot. I had to see what all the hype was about and as soon as I started reading the first one, I couldn’t stop!”

We talked about other books that were similar to 50 Shades while waiting for Martin to finish up with his other customers. He came to me.

“Hey, Martin, give me something a little stronger, please. Let’s do margaritas this time.” I turned to the woman. “Flight was a little rough the morning. We had a horrible stop in Atlanta.”

“Say no more! I used to be a flight attendant back in the day. It was my least favorite airport to stop in. I always had to sprint to the next gate.” We talked a little more about where she’s been and the cruise. I introduced myself, she told me her name was Michelle and that she was there with her husband, Chris and two sons. They tried to take a family vacation every year since schedules were always hectic. She ordered her drinks. 

“Certainly, right away, Miss Hutcherson.” Martin said as he returned her room key. Did I really just have a conversation with the woman who bore the one and only Josh Hutcherson?

“Wait, you’re….?” Why was I so starstruck? It’s not like I was talking to Josh himself. 

“Yeah, Josh is my son.” She pointed over to him and waved and I suddenly felt uncomfortable.

“I better get back to my friend. It was so nice meeting you, Michelle! Maybe, I’ll see you around!” 

Kathlyn was practically jumping in her seat when I got back. She saw that I was talking to Josh’s mom and grilled me on what we talked about. She was quite disappointed that all we spoke of were dirty books, flying and the cruise. I dove back into my book. By the time we finished our 3rd round of drinks, it was time to go to our muster stations for the safety demonstration. 

We made our way to the 5th deck and crowded into the lounge with about a million other ship guests and just sat there. We couldn’t even hear what they were saying on the overhead speaker. It was so boring. I noticed Michelle and the Hutcherson crew on the other side of the lounge. Josh was talking to a few pre-pubescent girls who looked like they wanted to eat his face off. I rolled my eyes. Really? Kathlyn is obsessing over…that? No thanks! 

One good looking guy did catch my attention in the crowded room. He was with a group of his friends. I noticed him look in my direction, so I smiled at him. He nodded at me. I may not have been single long, but I didn’t forget how to flirt. He was tall and well-built, wearing a pair of cargo shorts and UNC t-shirt. His eyes were piercing blue and his smile was enough to send daggers though my chest. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the emergency demonstration. This evening’s activities include a comedy show, karaoke in the *muffled* lounge….” I couldn’t hear the rest over everyone starting to talk. Kathlyn and I decided to go hang out on our balcony to watch us pull out of the port in Miami. I felt someone grab my arm when we were about to walk up the stairs to our room. 

“Excuse me, miss, you dropped this.” The voice said in a sexy, deep southern accent. He was holding my room key. The hot guy from the lounge looked at my name on it before handing it back to me.

“Thanks,” I smiled.

“You’re welcome, Sarah Stewart. I hope I see you again.”

“Well how can I see someone again when I don’t even know his name?”

“Evan.” I shook his outstretched hand. 

“Nice to meet you, Evan. I’ll see ya around.” I smiled and continued up the stairs, feeling him watch me. I was proud of myself for snagging a cute guy’s attention. Kathlyn and I positioned ourselves on the balcony of our room, snapping photos of the Miami skyline like paparazzi. The sun was starting to go down, casting shadows on the pink and blue buildings.


	3. Chapter 3

After waving to a few passing boats, we got ready for dinner and a night of exploring the ship. We picked an Asian restaurant on one of the upper decks and had phenomenal sushi. After dinner, we walked around the promenade, browsing in the shops and stopping at the champagne bar for a drink. 

While walking out of the bar, I noticed a commotion coming towards us. There might as well have been a flashing neon sign over him, because he wasn’t hard to spot with about 10 girls freaking out around him. Josh Hutcherson’s shoulder bashed right into mine and it hurt. Did he apologize? No, of course he didn't. 

This is the first time I got a good look at him, but I couldn't see his face because he had on a pair of sunglasses. Can you believe that? Sunglasses at night? What were we, in a Corey Hart video? He was going to get recognized even if he had a paper bag over his head. I don’t know why he bothered with the shades, it just made him look extra douchey. 

Kathlyn squealed in excitement. “Oooh look how good he looks!! Eeek I’m gonna go follow him!” She turned around.

“Ugh don’t be like those teeny bopper girls and stalk him! Just let him relax!” She didn’t hear a word I said and walked in his direction.

“I’ll beep you on the walkie talkie if I lose you.” We brought a pair of walkie talkies with us, since cell service on the ship was pretty much non-existent. In a flash, she left me alone to follow around some 21-year old kid like a lost puppy. 

I got up and did a little shopping in some of the gift shops on board. I was still amazed at how big the ship was. I couldn't get over it. I glanced to the open sky above to watch people zip-lining. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going because I nearly knocked someone over. 

“Hey! Watch it!” He dropped his wallet on the ground and bent down to pick it up.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry!” I covered my mouth in embarrassment. He got up to see who bumped into him. It was Evan, the hot guy from earlier.

“Oh, Sarah Stewart. What are the odds? Huh? So many people on board and I run into you. Must be my lucky day!”

“I’m so sorry! Can I buy you a drink?”

“I suppose I can let you do that.” He flashed his pearly whites at me. 

We made our way to this really cool bar that rose up and down in the center of the ship, letting people get on and off, almost like an elevator but a bar. We chatted about almost everything for the next couple hours. I learned he was on the cruise with a few college buddies who hadn’t seen each other in a while. He obviously was a UNC alum and from a small town near Asheville, North Carolina. He was charming enough, saying all the right things to impress me about his job and his dogs and love of kids and blah, blah blah. I was growing bored of his perfectness when the beep of the walkie talkie saved me.

“Hello? Earth to Sarah! This is Kat. Do you copy?. Over!” She’s such a dork, but she’s my best friend and I love her.

“Roger, I’m here. Over.”

“Where are you? I lost Josh. I don’t know where he went. I got distracted by this group of guys. Over.” She had a tendency of falling in and out of love…well, like…with guys very easily. 

“I’m at the Rising Tide Bar. Deck 8. Over.” 

“Okay, meet me at the room in 5. Over.” I turned to Evan. He was patient while my friend and I had our nerd moment over the walkie talkies. “It’s my friend, she needs to see me.”

“That’s no problem, I have to meet my friends anyways. Thanks for the drink.” He kissed the back of my hand, giving me chills, and got up. “I’m sure I’ll bump into you again.” He started walking away. 

“Hopefully I won’t knock you over next time!” I shouted. That was lame. I shook my head in embarrassment and headed up to the room to meet Kathlyn. 

We spent the rest of the night just walking around the ship. We met a few nice groups of people who we sat around and talked to one one of the pool decks. Kathlyn forced me into one of the lounges where they were having Broadway karaoke and made me sing the part of Joanne in Take Me or Leave Me from Rent. We must have did a good job because people actually clapped for us. 

We were beyond tired by 1am and decided to turn in for the night. I woke up sometime I’m guessing around 9, I couldn’t tell because my phone was underneath my clothes somewhere. Like I expected, I was nauseous, so I ordered some ginger ale from room service and sat on the balcony, taking in the spectacular view of the ocean. We must have been at full speed and I wondered where we were on the map.


	4. Chapter 4

Kathlyn was still out cold, so I decided to get a workout in before she woke up. It was too hot to run outside, so I made my way over to the fitness center. It was state-of-the-art with tons of ellipticals, bikes and treadmills, weight machines, yoga mats, stability balls, you name it. There were only a few people working out, which didn’t surprise me. Who wants to exercise on their vacation? I hopped on a treadmill in front of the window and cranked up the speed. It felt like I was running on water. 

Janet Jackson’s Throb came on my iPod. It was a dirty song, but it had a great beat. Out of the corner of my eye, someone walked in to the fitness center. I glanced over my shoulder to see who it was and low and behold, it was Josh Hutcherson. He was by himself, wearing a pair of basketball shorts and grey wife beater, carrying a towel on his shoulder. I turned back to the window, focusing on the ocean and slowed down to a brisk walk. 

I could see from the reflection in the window, that he grabbed a treadmill behind me and began running, zoning out to the music, probably blaring from his headphones. I couldn’t help but watch his reflection out of the corner of my eye. What the hell was wrong with me? Okay, so maybe his muscles were really nice to look at, but still.

The next song came on: Candyman by Christina Aguilera. How fitting. I watched Josh wipe the sweat off his forehead and caught myself biting my lower lip. I only did that when I wanted something really bad. When I noticed him glance in my direction, I shook my head, looking back to the water before me, but couldn’t help myself, so looked back at his reflection in the window, smiling at the fact that he was watching my ass. Thank goodness he can’t see my face right now.

Maybe it was because an Usher song came on next, or that the endorphins were kicking in from working out or the fact that I was at sea for almost a day or a combination of all 3, but I began having some thoughts. I’m talking about the thoughts you think about before you touch yourself at night. I imagined Josh and I, strangers in an elevator, him hitting the emergency stop button and having his way with me in it, smacking my ass, whispering dirty words into my ear. I’ll have to admit, I was getting hot and it wasn’t because I was exercising. 

After my 30 minutes were done, I hopped off and walked over to the water fountain to refill my water bottle, giving Josh a ‘I caught you looking at me’ smile when I passed him. I felt his eyes burning a hole into me the whole time I stood at the water fountain. He quickly turned his head away when I spun around and made my way over to the weight machines. 

Josh got off his treadmill after a few more minutes and walked over to a young blonde girl working behind the desk at the fitness center who was eyeing him the entire time he was there. He casually leaned over the desk with his right hand holding up his face. He said a few things to her that made the smile on her face even bigger. Cocky bastard. 

She playfully touched his arm and laughed at whatever snarky remark he made to her then got up and walked to the back. He leaned even farther over the desk to get a good look at her. He turned to my direction and gave me a proud ‘see, I can pick up girls’ look. I rolled my eyes at what I witnessed before me and couldn’t believe I was actually watching this go down. He could tell I thought he was pathetic, because he left when I shook my head. 

I finished my last minute of stretching and was starving. I hurried back to the room and Kathlyn was already in her bathing suit, ready to hit the pool deck. She looked at what I was wearing. “I figured you went to the gym. How was it?”

“Not bad, it felt good to run! I ran into your lover boy there.”

“Which one?” She laughed, she had already met so many guys, she couldn’t keep them straight.

“Josh.”

“Oh my god! Did you talk to him?”

“No, he was busy hitting on the girl behind the desk. He seemed quite proud of himself too.” 

“Well, he doesn’t have to try hard with women. They practically take off their underwear as soon as he smiles.” 

We made our way to the breakfast buffet. It had all you can eat pancakes, waffles and french toast, bacon, sausage, made-to-order omelets, an array of fruit and so on. I devoured every last bite of my plate. After eating, we laid out on the pool deck for a few hours until we were nice and tan. We ran into some people that we met the night before. They were going to try the surf pool the ship had, called Flowrider. I wanted to check it out so I went with them while Kathlyn stayed by the pool.

When we got up there, Michelle and Chris were standing to the side. I asked her if she was going to do it, but she shook her head. “No way, I’ll fall on my face. The boys are doing it though. They go surfing a lot, so they should be good at it.”

I got in line, watching the first timers have a go at it, falling. A few people actually got up after a couple tries. Then Josh’s, brother, who’s name I learned was Connor, got on. He was able to stand up for a while, before he lost his balance and fell. Josh was next. The girls behind me in line gasped when he took his shirt off. Hot damn. I tried to keep my eyes off the hairy chest and rock hard abs, but couldn’t look away. His body was like a magnet. Thankfully, I was wearing sunglasses, so I could hide it.

Of course, in his Josh-like manner, he showed off, trying to impress the girls who were watching. There were a couple girls in the group I was with who were around my age, Ashley and Lisa. Cousins from some mid-western state that I forgot. “Holy hell. I’d let him tear me apart!” Said Lisa, watching him spin on the board. 

I shook my head. “I don’t see what you guys see in him. I saw him at the gym earlier. He’s so full of himself.” But inside, I was thinking, Yeah, I’d let him tear me apart too. 

Josh fell off his board and, of course, everyone in line clapped for him. He took a small bow. I could see his head getting bigger. He just loved being the center of attention. Arrogant prick. A few more people went and finally it was my turn. I was nervous, there were a lot of people in line watching me. No turning back now. The rush of the water nearly knocked me over when I got in. 

The instructor handed me the board. The same board Josh used. I got turned on knowing that just a few minutes prior, his body rubbed all over the thing. I had to focus. The instructor told me to lie on my stomach and paddle through the waves, then when ready, jump onto my feet. Holy shit! Can you believe it? I actually was able to stand for a brief second! It didn’t last long. I lost my balance and fell right on my ass. Ouch. Well, that’s my accomplishment for the day.


	5. Chapter 5

Lisa, Ashley and I headed back to the pool deck to lay out some more. Kathlyn was happily flipping through an issue of Cosmo and I continued on with my 50 Shades book. The sun was really starting to beat down, so I jumped in the pool. I didn’t want to get out for a while, so I hung over the edge, dangling my lower half in the water.

The rest of the day went surprisingly fast. We grabbed lunch in one of the cafes near the pool, there was an ice carving demonstration on the pool deck, we played a round of minigolf and met up with Evan and watched him and his friend Jake climb the rock wall. We followed them to the basketball court.

The guys just started to take some practice shots when out of nowhere, Josh and his brother showed up. Kathlyn was beside herself. She couldn’t believe she was this close to Josh. They decided to play a game of 2-on-2. I purposely cheered for Evan and Jake while Kathyln clapped for Josh and his brother.

“Woooh! Go Josh!” she yelled when he made a basket. He gave her that same old cocky grin of his. I had to roll my eyes. She just about exploded. He looked at me but didn’t smile. In fact, he didn’t do anything but wipe the sweat off his face with the bottom of his shirt. I glared at him. What the hell was that for? The ball came flying over to where we were sitting on the ground. I tossed it back to Josh, who was waving that it was his ball. He didn’t even bother to say thank you. Rude!

The game seemed to be taking forever and Kathlyn and I had to go get ready for dinner, so we left them.

“Bye, Josh!” Kat gave him a girly wave.

“Bye!” He waved to her politely. I pulled her along, in fear that she’d pile drive him right there on the basketball court.

We headed to the dining room after getting dressed up and sat next to an older couple who were apparently cruise experts. They took one every 6 months. The evening came and went, we checked out a broadway show at the outside theater on the ship and hung out with our new friends, Ashley and Lisa.

Afterwards, I met up with Evan, who was looking good in his polo and khaki pants and we walked around one of the outside decks for a while, probably a good hour. He, again, continued to say all the right things, being a gentleman - you know, like touching the small of my back, letting me walk first through doorways - that kind of stuff. We stopped at the back of the ship to look out at the dark water and I was lost in his southern accent, but I didn’t know what he was saying. I leaned over the railing to look down at one of the lower decks when Evan came up behind me and put his hands on my waist.

He whispered sweet nothings into my ear, making me smile, telling me I was beautiful and all that other sweet crap. When his lips hit my neck, I got chills again. But not the good ‘I want you so bad, let’s go to your room’ kind of chills, they were more of the ‘I’m not sure if this is right’ kind of chills. It made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure why, but this guy seemed too perfect and I started thinking he was putting on some kind of an act. I had a 6th sense about that kind of stuff. I told him that I felt uncomfortable with him doing that, to which he apologized and backed off.

I sipped my coffee and dug into my freshly made Belgian waffle at breakfast the next morning. I was loving the food on board. Kathlyn was in line, waiting for her omelet. I noticed Josh walk into the dining room with his family. He removed his sunglasses. There’s a surprise. His eyes darted around the room, looking for an open table. They landed right on me for a second, then he pointed to one by the window and must have told his brother to go sit down. Connor and his parents made their way over to the table. Not Josh, no. He casually strolled over to my empty table, hand in his pocket, looking like a jungle cat hunting its prey. He intrusively sat down next to me and leaned his elbows on the table.

“Hi, I’m Josh,” he said giving me a sly grin. Are you fucking kidding me?

“I know you who are, Josh.” I gave him a cold response and sipped my orange juice, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

He was elated, his tongue shot out of his mouth, brushing the top of his lips. His response, I’m not even kidding: “But I don’t know who YOU are.” I rolled my eyes. I was so on to him.

“That’s cute, really cute. You use that on all the girls?”

He chuckled, “No, just you.”

“You probably don’t need to use it on other girls, do you? I’m sure you can charm the pants off of any woman you wanted with just a look,” I blurted.

He tilted his head down, looking up at me with those big hazel eyes and gave me a little half smile. “Well, is it working?” What an arrogant little bastard. My jaw hit the floor and I let out a laugh. This kid was not trying to hit on me.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out, isn’t it?” And just like that, I got up from the table. He sat there, dumbfounded for a moment before getting up. Kathlyn would have thrown me off the side of the ship if she found out that I actually spoke to Josh.

We spent the rest of the day at the pool. I couldn’t stop thinking about the sexy look Josh gave me. Was this how he lured them in? With those eyes? And that smile? I could just picture him winking to himself in the mirror before leaving his house every day, rubbing his defined jawline. He probably says ‘Okay, Josh, time to break some hearts today.’

After dinner that night, we sat in a bar with Lisa and Ashley for a while until they had to leave to make it to a show they were going to. Kathlyn had to run up to the room, so I sat at the bar and finished my drink. I slid my glass to the bartender when I heard, “Hey, you never told me your name.”

I could tell it was Josh from the voice alone. I turned around to see that he was in black dress pants, green button down shirt and tie.  _Oooh. Is it hot in here?_  He must have just gotten done with dinner. It was one of the formal nights on the ship.   
  
“You didn’t ask.“ I swung back around. He shook his head and sat down next to me, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top two buttons on his shirt.  _Undo one more button and I’ll have to give myself to you in ways you’ve only read about in the drugstore._

“Alright, that’s true.” He ordered his drink. A bourbon on the rocks. I was impressed in his taste of liquor, being so young. “But you got up from the table so fast, I didn’t get a chance to ask.”  
  
“Why do you want to know my name so bad?”  _Is it because you want to scream it in bed later? Because, I’d be okay with that._

“I felt like I had to talk to you. I kept seeing you everywhere.”

“Why didn’t you say anything to me before when you saw me the million other times?”  
  
“Honestly? I had to work up the courage. I’m a chicken shit when it comes to girls.”  _Okay, now he’s full of shit_. I put my hand over my heart in a dramatic movement.

“No! THE Josh Hutcherson, charmer extraordinaire, afraid to talk to girls? Get out of here! I must have seen you talking to 50 girls since I got on this boat. You’re not a chicken shit!”

“Those were just fans. I talk to them all the time. I get nervous when I talk to girls I’m  _interested_  in.” He took a big gulp of his drink. “Girls like you.”  _Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me right now._  
  
“Well, I’m flattered, I really am, but you’re a little too young for me.”

“How old  _are_  you?”

“Josh, you never ask a woman that! Never!”

“You can’t be more than what…23?”

“HA! try adding 5 years to that!”

“28?” He smiled. “You’re 28?”

“Yes, you’re very good at math. 28. See? I’m too old for you. I suggest you mosey along and try to find someone closer to your own age.” I shooed him away.

“Fine, I’ll go, but tell me your name first.”   
  
“Sarah.” I held out my hand, which he willingly grabbed and shook. 

“Sarah, nice to meet you. I’ll leave you alone now.” He got up off the barstool and downed the rest of the bourbon. “But before I go…” He cleared his throat and whispered, “Do you honestly think I don’t know how to please an older woman?” He inched even closer to my ear. “Sarah?” The smell of the whiskey on his breath made my hormones go crazy.

That was the blow that made me fall. I couldn’t hold it in, I let the smile escape my lips. He smiled when he saw the look on my face. That smug, cocky smile that I hated so much.  
  
“You’re proud of yourself right now, aren’t you, Hutcherson?” 

“Possibly.” And with that, he turned around, sticking his hand in his pocket and walked out of the bar.  _Un-fucking-believable!_


	6. Chapter 6

The itinerary Kat and I had planned started pretty early the next morning, so I called it a night after Josh left the bar. I laid awake in bed for a while, replaying the exchange I had with Josh. I couldn’t believe he left me feeling so turned on like that! What was with this guy?  
  
The ship docked at the port of St. Croix early in the morning. I was awoken to the sound of a ding going off from the loudspeaker in the hallway. I sprang out of bed and stepped onto the balcony, looking at the scenery. It was as lush and green as it was in the brochures. At breakfast, I awkwardly bumped into Evan and his buddies. He asked if I was okay from the night before, and honestly, I had to think about what he was referring to. I will still pretty shaken up from what Josh said to me. _"Do you think I don’t know how to please an older woman?"_ I’d certainly like to see him try!  
  
I was so relieved when I stepped on land for the first time, I could have kissed the ground. The rocking of the ship, even though I couldn’t feel it much, was starting to get to me. Kat and I did a half-day sightseeing tour. Josh’s mom and dad were in the van with us, giving us a chance to hang out some more. Josh and his brother were doing a scuba diving excursion. I liked talking to Mr. and Mrs. Hutcherson. They were so down to earth and fun, but every time Josh’s name came into the conversation, I bit my lower lip, thinking of the things I’d let him do to me.  
  
When we arrived back at the port, Kat and I hung out at the beach for a while. Off in the distance, in the water, I spotted Josh. I knew it was him from the huge anchor tattoo on his left side. He was horsing around with his brother and few younger girls. I kept hearing them say “Oh Josh! Stop! I’m gonna dunk you if you splash me again! Tee-hee!” I think I gagged a little, those girls had no idea what they were doing. When Josh and Connor got out of the water, I thought Josh was going to drop dead when he saw me laughing up a storm with his own mother.  
  
“Sarah, meet my sons, Josh and Connor.”

“OH MY GOD! I can’t believe it’s actually you! It’s SO nice to meet you finally! I LOVE your movies!” Okay, so maybe I went a little overboard there. Kathlyn gave me a really weird look when I shook his hand because she knew I’ve seen him a few other times on the ship and acted like I couldn’t care less, but let’s face it. The boy was hot. I didn’t stand a chance in hell ignoring what he said to me the night before, either. 

“Oh, uhh, thank you. I’m always glad to meet my fans.” He gave me a ‘ _what the fuck are you doing?_ ’ look.

“Oh I’m sure you are!” I smiled innocently at him.  
  
I laid down on my towel sprawled out on the sand and inhaled the scent of suntan lotion, coconut rum and the sea. Could there be a better smell in the world? I think not! I rubbed some sunscreen onto my legs, arms and chest, glancing seductively at Josh when I rubbed the area between my boobs. His mouth dropped and he let out a little nervous laugh and tried not to stare directly at me, but I caught him looking in my direction every few seconds. I made Kathlyn put some sunscreen on my back and shoulders, asking her in a really porn-like manner.  
  
“Kathlyn? Will you rub some sunblock on my back?” I untied the top string of my bathing suit top and held my boobs in place so she could get my neck. When she put the lotion on her hands and started rubbing it into my skin, Josh lost it. He had to adjust himself because I’m pretty sure he was getting hard. I shook my head at him.  _No, no, no Joshua. You can’t look at this with your mother sitting right there._  
  
He shook his head and turned to look out at the water. Thank God his mother didn’t actually see the exchanges I was having with her son. She would have told me to stop being such a slut and to leave him alone for the rest of the trip. It didn’t help, either, that she knew I was in the middle of one of the dirtiest books to come out in the last few years. I decided to play it cool around his parents.  
  
Before I knew it, it was time to get back on the ship. I said my goodbyes to the beautiful island of St. Croix before stepping through security to get back on the boat. I wasn’t ready to leave, but was anxious to see St. Maarten, our next stop. I browsed through the pictures we took while waiting for Kathlyn to shower before dinner. I heard the walkie talkie go off in my bag.  
  
BEEP BEEP. “Mom?….No! Give me the…”

Out of curiosity, I beeped back. “Hello?”

“Sorry, my brother doesn’t know how to use this thing….Yes, I do! Stop!”

“Uhh, who is this?”

“This is Connor, who’s this?”

“Sarah.”

After a few minutes, I figured they shut their walkie talkie off, but then it beeped again.

“Sarah? Is this the Sarah I met last night? It’s Josh.” He had a hint of desperation in his voice.

I stepped onto the balcony because I heard the shower shut off. “Josh? Josh who?” It was so fun playing with him.

“Oh, you didn’t meet a Josh last night?”

"Ummm, no. Sorry!"

"Oh. Ok. Bye." I couldn’t help it. He just sounded like he just lost his favorite stuffed animal. I burst out laughing.

“Okay, okay, it’s me!”

“Oh, hey. What’s up?”

“Nothing, what’s up with you?”

“Nothing. You have fun today?”

“Yeah, I did. The sights on the island were beautiful.

“Yeah, there were definitely some sights I enjoyed seeing, that’s for sure.”

“Oh really? And what would those be, Joshua?”

“I think you know, Sarah.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Oh, do I?” 

Kathlyn opened up the balcony door and I immediately shut off the walkie talkie. “Why are you so jumpy?” she asked.

“I’m not!” I distracted her. “Look, there goes a boat! Wave!”

“Oh! HI!!!” Kat was distracted easily. That’s what I love about her. I hopped in the shower and washed the sand and salt from the ocean out of my hair. I slipped on my favorite pair of low cut shorts, purple v-neck tank-top and gladiator sandals. I threw my hair up in a messy bun, letting some ringlets fall down at my neck. 

I was becoming quite fond of the older couple who we sat with in the dining room. It was nice to see a couple together for as long as them and still so in love. He was such a gentleman, always pulling out the seat for his wife and standing up when any of us got up from the table. It reminded me of my grandparents. So sweet. 

Kat and I caught a comedy show in one of the lounges on board before checking out one of the nightclubs. It was pretty busy. People of all ages were out on the dance floor, everyone over 21, that is. The DJ played all kinds of dance music. Kat and I were just starting to dance to Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira when Josh walked in, looking like a stud.

He was nice and tan from being in the sun all day, wearing a pair of dark jeans and white v-neck. Of course, he was with a girl who didn't even look like she was 18, let alone 21. To my luck, the guard at the door stopped her, asking for her ID. She stomped her foot on the ground and said something to Josh. 

He glanced around the room and spotted Kat and I. He said something to her and pointed to the door of the club. Surprisingly, she happily walked out. I never did find out what he said to her. He walked over to the bar, ordered a beer and sat on a bar stool facing the dance floor. I did what Shakira said and shook my hips like it was nobody’s business. Kat didn't realize that Josh was in the club, but I kept glancing over at him. He’d raise his eyebrows and smile, taking long swigs of his beer. 

Next song came on was O.M.G. by Usher and I was just getting into it when I felt hands on my waist and a body behind me. Evan. “Wanna dance?” he said in my ear.

I didn't say no. It’s not like Josh got up and asked me to dance. Even though Evan was a nice guy, there was still something about him that didn't rub me the right way. Having his hands on me still made me feel uncomfortable. I turned to face him and grabbed his hands, making him spin me around a few times. 

I glanced back over to Josh when Evan pulled me in and wrapped his arms around me. He was chatting up another girl, buying her a drink at the bar. Surprise, surprise. She tried to pull him onto the dance floor after the bartender gave her the fruity little drink he bought her, but he waved his hands and shook his head no. She gave him a hug, thanking him for the drink and scampered off with her friends, giggling and eyeing Josh up and down. 

When the next song came on, I was dying. “I need a drink!” I yelled to Evan. He nodded and made his way back over to his friends. I made a pouring motion to my mouth telling Kat I needed a drink. She stayed on the dance floor and I walked over to the opposite side of the bar that Josh was sitting at. “2 tequilas please!” I tossed my room key to the bartender and he took out 2 shot glasses, poured in some Jose Cuervo, set 2 lime slices down on bar napkins and took out a salt shaker. He handed me my room key when Josh came over and sat down at the empty stool next to where I was standing. 

“Hi. What’s up with you and that douchebag?” He nodded over to Evan and rested his elbows on the bar. 

“He’s not a douchebag. He’s really sweet.” I smiled at Evan who nodded to me and turned back to his friends.

He chuckled. “Not as sweet as you think.”

“Is someone jealous? Here. Do this.” I slid a shot glass and lime slice to him.

“Oh, I uhh…I can’t. Tequila and I don’t get along.”

“Don’t be such a pussy, just do it!” I licked the back of my hand and poured some salt on it. He followed suit. I picked up the lime slice and the shot glass. “Ready?”

He shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.” I took a deep breath, licked the salt and downed the shot. My insides burned all the way down. It felt like my chest was on fire. I quickly bit down the lime and sucked all the juices out. 

“Wooooh! That burns!” he shouted. “I hate you for making me do that!” 

“Come on you liked it.” I tugged at his sleeve and the bartender came and picked up our shot glasses and lime slices.

“Here, this one’s on me.” He pulled his room key out of his back pocket and ordered two beers. Even though I found beer disgusting, I sucked it up and drank it anyway since he was nice enough to buy it. 

I started dancing a little when the DJ started playing the next song, still sipping my beer. Josh watched me and put his hand on my left hip but I smacked it away. 

“Oww! What was that for?”

“No touching, Joshua.”

“What? You’ve gotta be kidding me. After that shit you pulled earlier at the beach? I can’t touch you?” He was really flustered.

“I didn’t pull anything at the beach,” I said innocently.

“Yeah right.” He mimicked me, “Oh Kathlyn, will you rub this suntan lotion on my back. Oh what’s that? You can’t get my neck? Here, let me untie my top and drive Josh crazy!”

I smiled, set my beer bottle down on the bar and smacked his cheek a couple times. “You’re cute. Thanks for the drink.” I got up and walked away, finding Kathlyn on the floor who was dancing with Lisa and Ashley.


	8. Chapter 8

I just started dancing to another song when Evan came back around, looking to dance with me. He was like a snake. Slithering up and down my body. I looked at Josh, giving him a “ _help me!_ ” look. He covered his laugh with his hand and shook his head no.  _That’s what I get for not letting him touch me._  When the song finally ended, I made my way over to Kathlyn. I was ready to go.   
  
The ship docked at the pier in St. Maarten early the next morning. I was really excited about this stop. We had a fun excursion planned. After eating a quick breakfast, Kat and I made our way outside. We ran into Chris and Michelle who told us that Josh and Connor were doing the same excursion as us.  
  
I also saw Evan and his buddies and he winked at me.I politely waved at him and luckily, they weren’t going in our direction. Kat and I walked over to the bus that took us to the site of our excursion. We were doing a treetop tour. It was a ropes course that had zip-lines and different stations that we had to make our way through.  
  
When we stopped, everyone got off the bus and got trained on how to go from one station to the next. We all got suited up in harnesses and helmets and formed a line to the first station. Josh and his brother stood behind Kathlyn and I. Josh pulled my shoulder strap. “This is gonna be intense, you think you can handle it?”  
  
“Pshhh, yeah. It can’t be that hard, I’m strapped in nice and tight.” The first person made his way up the ladder. I leaned in and whispered, “Oh and thanks a lot for saving me from dancing with Evan last night. You should have cut in!”

He whispered back, “You said I wasn’t allowed to touch you.” I looked him up and down. His muscles rippled through his grey t-shirt.  
  
“I might be willing to change my mind if you’re nice to me.” I turned back around and stepped forward. I clapped for Kat as she zipped away from the starting point. She screamed the whole way. It was my turn. I climbed up the ladder. The guide was waiting for me at the top. I was really high up. I grabbed a hold of the bar and on the count of three, I felt him push me. I was sent soaring over the tops of trees. The views from each station were spectacular. On the last station, I had to wait for Kat to get down to the ground.

“Isn’t this awesome? Wooooh!” She screamed as she took off.

I stood there waiting to get the okay from the guide and the next thing I knew, Josh was standing behind me, adjusting the clip that held him in place.  
  
“Hey! What’s up?” He licked his lips which sent me into a tizzy.  _What I wouldn’t give to know what that tongue felt like exploring my body._  I was in such a state of awe that I nearly fell off the edge of the platform. He grabbed my harness and pulled me back, putting his arm around my waist so I could catch my balance.

“Woah, woah! Watch it there! I don’t want a casualty on my hands! Plus, I have to be  _really_  nice to you!”

  
“Thanks.” I smiled back at him nervously and grabbed the bar.  _Why is he making me nervous?_

I was scared to jump off for some reason. I think it had the steepest drop. Josh could tell I was afraid because I was taking deep breaths. He counted to 3 for me and I jumped off the platform and felt like I was plummeting to my untimely death, but I was safely on the ground in a matter of a minute. Kathlyn was already out of her harness and helped me get mine off.  
  
Josh landed, followed by his brother a few minutes later. Kathlyn and I watched discreetly through our sunglasses as Josh took his helmet off. She grabbed my arm to hold herself up when he ran his fingers through his hair that was soaked in sweat. _  
_

On the ride back, Josh was being extra nice to me and Kathlyn. When we got back to the pier where the ship was, the girl from the night before who couldn’t get into the club ran over to Josh, more like skipped. She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek.


	9. Chapter 9

I didn't want to watch some skanky hoebag throwing herself all over Josh, so I turned my attention towards the duty free shops. Kat and I loaded up on tons of souvenirs for friends and family back home. There was some kind of joy I got from buying tacky keychains, magnets and shot glasses from wherever I traveled to. We grabbed a late lunch at a nice little ocean view restaurant before heading back on the ship.  
  
While changing into our bathing suits to go to the pool deck, Kathlyn said, “Josh seems really sweet.”

“Yeah, I guess. For someone his age. But part of me says he’s full of shit and that sweet thing is just an act. You know? I mean he is an actor. And he’s probably already hooked up with half the girls on the ship using that sweet routine, right? Like, who was that girl that ran up to him when we got off the bus? His fuck buddy?”

“Wow! Why do you care all of a sudden? Is someone getting a crush?”

“Hell no! He’s only 21! I’m 28. That’s sick! I don’t need to be hanging around some 21 year old kid, there are plenty of older single, non-famous guys on this ship.”  _But I’m sure no one else on the ship could get my panties in a bunch like he could._  
  
After dinner that night, we decided to try our luck at the casino on board. While watching Kathlyn play Blackjack, I noticed Evan waving me over to him. He was sitting at a poker table.

“Hey, you want to get a drink in a little bit?”

“I uhh….” Why not?  _Josh seemed pretty content with miss blondie earlier. I can have a little fun too._  “You know what? Sure! I’d love to! I’m over there with my friend, come get me when you’re done!”  
  
A half hour later, Evan tapped me on the shoulder. Kathlyn was up in chips and wanted to stay. Evan and I walked to an outdoor bar on one of the upper decks and I told him about the treetop tour I did earlier, he did a sailboat/snorkel tour. We had a couple more drinks and talked for another hour or so. He wanted to go to this one shop to get something for someone back home, so I went with him. Maybe he wasn’t as creepy as I thought.  
  
We sat on a couple beach chairs by the pool and talked for a while. “You know, you’re a great dancer. I had fun with you last night!”

“Thanks! Yeah I did too.”  _With Josh._

“I’d love to dance with you again.” He put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a nice smile.

“Well, let’s go!” I was down for more dancing.

“Not that kind of dancing.” His thumb rubbed my shoulder. He still had the same smile but to me, it was much different.

“What?”

“Come on. You didn’t agree to have a couple drinks with me for nothing did you, Sarah?” He put his other hand on my knee.

I pushed his hand off. “I agreed to have a drink with you because I  _thought_ you were a nice guy!”  
  
He put his hand back, this time even further up my leg, making me really uncomfortable. “I am a nice guy. But Sarah, let’s be honest here. I don’t want to be a nice guy all the time. And you’re a beautiful girl. Don’t you want to have a little fun?”

“No! Get your hand off me!” I shoved his hand away this time and stood up. He pulled me back down, with a tight grip on my wrist.

“Hey! Come on! Where you going hunny?”   
  
“Get your hands off me Evan! I’m not going to ask you again!”

“Oh yeah? What are you going to do? There’s no one around right now to stop me.” He pressed his lips to mine, trying to shove his tongue down my throat. I somehow managed to push him off.   
“Oooh, you’re feisty, aren’t you? I like a girl that can put up a fight!”   
  
I tried to get up again but he pushed me back down and held onto my wrists. I didn’t know what to say. All I could do was hope that someone would come along or maybe if there were security cameras on board that someone would see that there was a scuffle going on. I opened my mouth to scream when I heard a familiar voice.  
  
“HEY!” It was Josh, with his brother walking back from playing basketball.

Evan glared at them both. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, you can take your hands off her right now.”

“This isn’t any of your business.”

“You made it my business when you pushed her.”

Evan stood up and walked over to Josh. I quickly got off the chair and stood back to watch.  _Oh god, am I about to get Josh’s handsome face kicked in?_

“She’s not your girlfriend, why do you care? Why aren’t you with that little blonde number I saw you making out with last night?”   
  
“That has nothing to do with you. You just leave her alone and we won’t have a problem, alright?” Then, miraculously, a pool attendant walked by and asked if everything was alright. Evan didn’t say anything to him and walked away, clenching his fists. Josh looked at me and told him everything was fine. I took off in the opposite direction that Evan went and hurried to find Kathlyn and spent the rest of the night crying to her in the room.


	10. Chapter 10

The half hour massage I had in the spa the next morning was exactly what I needed to help clear my head. The ship was still docking at the port of Roseau, Dominica. I slipped into the warm hot tub afterwards and let one of the jets float my hand up in the water. I rested my head back on the side of the tub and closed my eyes. I opened my eyes when I heard the door open, and there he was. Face beet red and hair looking like he just had some hot sex, but he was in gym clothes so I figured he just got done working out.  
  
He didn’t take his eyes off me for a second. A spa attendant stopped him, making him take his shoes off and he obliged and continued walking towards the hot tub where I was sitting. 

“Morning.” He took his shirt off and threw it on a nearby chair. 

“Hey.” I caught myself biting my lower lip again as I watched his muscles.

He sat on the edge of the tub and stuck his feet in the water. “Are you okay? Last night was….”

“I’m fine.” I didn’t want to think about what happened the night before.

“You know, I should have told you. The other night after you guys left when we were playing basketball, he kept talking about his girlfriend back home.”

“I should have known. What a fucking asshole.” An older couple stepped into the tub with me. I pegged them at around 65. I don’t think they knew who Josh was.  
  
“Morning, folks. Ahhh, this is nice,” said the man. I nodded to them. Josh got a huge smile on his face and hopped in, gym shorts and all, sitting next to me.

“Good morning! Enjoying yourselves?” 

The woman spoke up. “Oh we’re having a real lovely time.” I smiled politely at them and closed my eyes again.   
  
I heard the man ask Josh, “How about you two? Having a nice time?” Josh put his arm around my shoulder, causing me to open my eyes.  
  
“Yeah, we’re actually on our honeymoon!”  _What? This is news to me!_  Josh nudged my leg under the water.

The woman clapped her hands together and looked like she just found a million dollars on the street. “Awwww that is so sweet!” She looked at me. “How was the wedding?”

I decided to play along. “Absolutely beautiful. It was everything a girl could wish for!” I looked lovingly at Josh. According to him, we were from a small Iowa town. He made them believe he was a 7th grade social studies teacher and I was an interior designer. We chatted with them for a few minutes before it was too hot for them and they got out.

“You two take care now!” the man waved.

“Alright, will do! Take it easy!” Josh kissed my cheek a few times and waved back.   
  
“Get off me!” I jokingly pushed him away. “You’re a brilliant actor, you know that?” 

“Thank you, that’s why I do it for a living,” he smiled proudly. 

“So. Where’s your girlfriend this morning?” 

“Oh God that girl you saw me with yesterday? Don’t even get me started.” He shook his head.

“What? According to Evan you guys were making out the other night. Nice! Were you browsing the schoolyard for that one?”

“She’s 18 if you must know. And she just kinda threw herself at me. I couldn’t get her off.” 

“And did you like when she threw herself on you?”

“No, I hated it. I hate pushy girls like that.”

“Why?”

“I like to be the one that makes the first move.”

“So, you like to be in control then?”

“Mhmm. Why?” Beads of sweat were starting to form on his forehead, which he wiped off. 

“Oh. Nothing.” I smiled. “You know, Joshua, you were really nice last night. Saving me from Evan.” He smiled when he realized I emphasized ‘really nice’, remembering what I told him the day before. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“I can think of a few ways.” He raised his eyebrows and began moving closer to me.   
  
I held out my hand to stop him and traced my fingers down his chest, stopping when I got to the end of the patch of chest hair. I smiled sweetly and looked at the clock. “I think it’s time for me to go.” Josh’s mouth was, yet again, on the ground. I stepped out of the hot tub, slowly, letting his eyes follow the beads of water cascading down my back.  
  
“Hey! Where are you going, wife? We’re on our honeymoon!” I didn’t turn around to look at him. “You can’t just leave your new husband hanging like this!” He hollered as I made my way across the room.   
  
A few people in the other hot tub looked up but quickly returned to their relaxed state. I looked back at Josh, smiled and waved. I knew I’d be in trouble if he saw me later. I made my way back to the room, proud of how crazy I was making Josh. I did feel bad for him a little. It was like he was a mouse on a wheel, with cheese dangling in front of him, and no matter how fast he ran on the wheel, he could never get the cheese. Poor guy.


	11. Chapter 11

Kat and I signed up to check out Trafalgar Falls that morning and to go snorkeling on Champagne Beach. It would have been pretty awesome, had it not been for Josh’s little sort-of girlfriend being there, whose name, I learned, was Kristen. She was on the cruise with her snobby parents and dip-shit brother who didn’t even say two words.   
  
When she saw Josh when we got back to the port, she clung onto him like a leech. He gave her a friendly hug and carefully pried her off and she ran off after her annoying little friends. Josh saw Kat and I laughing at him from afar and got a scowl on his face. “You! Get over here!” He pointed his finger and gestured for me to come to him.  
  
“Who me?” I shouted, pointing at myself. He nodded.

Luckily, for my sake, he was interrupted by his mom calling for him to hurry up. I heard him say, “I’m not done with you yet!” before he ran off to catch up with his family.

“What the hell did you do to him?” asked Kat.

“I have no idea! I apparently pissed him off!” I laughed.  
  
We got lunch before taking a trolley tour of the city. On the walk back to the ship, I saw Evan. He gave me a really nasty look when he passed us. Kathlyn put her arm around my shoulder and I shot the same look right back at him. “Come on, I’ll make sure he stays away from you.” We went up to our room and got ready for dinner. It was another formal night. I took out my purple knee-length dress while Kathlyn was in the shower. When I was going through my jewelry, one of the walkie talkies that was sitting on the desk beeped.  
  
BEEP BEEP. “Hey, wifey. Where are you?” The smile on my face was about a mile wide.

“Who’s this?”

“Nope. Don’t pull that shit with me again. I remember what channel I got you on before.”

“Fine. What do you want, Hutcherson?” 

“I got a bone to pick with you. Where are you right now?”

“Somewhere on the ship.”

"Haha! No shit, Sherlock!”

“I’m getting ready for dinner. What do you want?”

“I just realized I know nothing about you other than your name and the fact that you drive me fucking insane.”

“What do you want to know?”

“I’m not asking you all my questions right now. Meet me later at the buffet thing they’re having on the pool deck.”

“Fine. I’ll see you then.”  
  
Kat and I were ready a little while before our dinner seating, so we walked around the promenade and stopped at the Rising Tide Bar for a drink. I just took a sip of my red wine when I saw Evan walk in with some brunette woman. He didn’t see me, but I watched him carefully. He acted the same way with me the first night I met him. It made me sick to watch, so I turned away.

The bar started moving down to a lower deck when I saw him. Nearly every guy on the ship was dressed up that night, but he stood out like a sore thumb. His hair was slicked back and he was wearing a black and white tuxedo. His hand was in his pocket and he was standing in a circle talking with his parents and another family. I tapped Kathlyn on the arm and pointed to him. She smacked her hand on the table. “Oh. My. God. Sarah! Are you seeing this right now? Please tell me you’re looking!”  
  
“Oh yeah, I’m looking,” I exhaled deeply. My bottom lip was practically raw at this point. My heart stopped when he looked at me and did a double take. He flashed his same old cocky smile and nodded at me. Kathlyn waved to him as if she were a 5 year old waiting in line at the mall to see Santa. He waved back to her.

“Eeeek!” Her eyes lit up. I laughed at her and looked back up at him. He was now leaning over the railing, looking down at the bar. I gave him a seductive smile and took another sip of my wine.  _He’s in trouble tonight._  
  
Kathlyn noticed him looking down at me. “Oooh. You see that look? He must not be mad at you anymore!”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “I guess not.”  
  
After dinner with my new favorite couple, the Morgans, I was anxious for 10 o’clock, when the buffet on the pool deck started. They do it on every cruise. Endless spreads of fruit, desserts, ice cream, hors d’œuvres, you name it. They have enough food to feed a small country. A DJ adds to the night, playing tons of dance music. A conga line usually breaks out too.   
  
We met up with Ashley and Lisa and hung out in the casino for a while. I actually won a couple hundred on the slot machines! I got so carried away that I didn’t notice the time. And since they don’t put clocks in casinos, I had to ask an older woman sitting next to me. She told me it was 10:15. Kat and the girls were still playing. 

“Hey, I have to run up to the room, I’ll meet you on the pool deck in a little bit.”

“Ok, see you soon!” said Kat who still had her eyes fixated on the screen.  
  
I went into the ladies room to check myself out before going to the pool deck. Kristen and one of her little followers came in. She, of course, was bitching about Josh ignoring her. I rolled my eyes when I passed her. The pool deck was packed when I got to it, just as I imagined.   
  
The DJ was playing [Evacuate the Dancefloor](http://open.spotify.com/track/138phuj4try6n8GKTB9pfi). I stood and watched people dance, casually glancing around the deck to see if I could spot Josh anywhere. The crowd started moving my way, so I walked over to the chocolate fountain and grabbed a plate. I filled it up with strawberries, pineapple, graham crackers and marshmallows and sat down one one of the lounge chairs. After stuffing my face, I wanted some more, so I made my way to the ice cream table.  _Gym, first thing in the morning, fat ass!_  
  
Something caught my eye when I picked up a bowl. It was him, standing on the other end of the pool deck. He was alone. His bow tie and jacket were off and the first few buttons of his shirt were undone. He smiled at me and motioned for me to join him. I dropped my bowl, bit my lower lip and made my way over to him.


	12. Chapter 12

I had to push past a few drunk 40-ish year old men to get to where Josh was standing. He was sipping on a dark drink in a short glass and held a plate of chocolate covered fruit in his other hand.  
  
“Hey, what’s up?” he smiled when I stood in front of him.

I grabbed a strawberry off the plate without asking and looked him up and down. He looked even better up close. “You clean up nice, Hutcherson.” I put the strawberry in my mouth and bit down, sucking on the juices. Josh’s smile faded to a look of pure weakness. I put the top of the strawberry down on his plate. “Is something bothering you tonight, Joshua?”  
  
“Yeah. You took my fuckin’ strawberry. I was gonna eat that!” He furrowed his eyebrows.

“Oh. Ooops! Sorry!” I shrugged and licked off some of the juice that dripped onto my finger.

He let out a nervous laugh. “It’s okay.” The few drunk men were turning to look at me after one of them noticed my display of sluttery. Josh looked at them and then back to me. “You want to get out of here?”  
  
“Yeah,” I replied, playing with the collar of his shirt. He set his plate down on a nearby table and led me away from the pool deck. I was grateful we stepped away when we did, the DJ just started playing Hot, Hot, Hot - which was the signal for the start of the conga line.   
  
“Where are we going?” I asked, following him down a set of stairs. 

“You’ll see.” He looked straight ahead. We walked down an outdoor deck for a few minutes before going down a narrow set of stairs with a sign above it that said ‘Employees Only’

“We’re not supposed to be in here.” I exclaimed.

“Don’t worry about it, I know people.”

“Oh of course you do!” I rolled my eyes at his cockieness.   
  
He laughed, “Come on.” We walked through a narrow hallway before coming to another set of stairs that went up to an outdoor deck. We continued walking towards the front of the ship. It was really dark and not a single person was around. 

“Uhh, you’re not going to like rape me then throw me off the side of the ship, are you?” I asked, looking around cautiously. 

“No! What do you think I am?”

“Sorry! You can’t trust people these days, that’s all! Look at what happened to me last night!”  
  
We finally got to a large open area at the front of the ship. 

I pointed to the bow. “Are we gonna do the Titanic thing? Is this where you take all the other girls on the ship?” 

He shook his head and walked to the painted circle in the middle. It was the helicopter landing pad. He sat down on the ground and patted next to him.   
  
“My brother and I somehow found this the other day when we were wandering around.” I took a seat next to him, leaning back on my hands and looking in awe at the sky. You could see every star known to man.

“Wow! This is awesome.” I stared up at the twinkling lights, trying to find the only constellation I know, the Big Dipper. Josh laid down on his back, resting his head on his hands, and let out a sigh. I looked back at him. His golden orbs moved all over the sky, before he noticed me staring at him.   
  
“What?” 

I shook my head. “Nothing.” I turned my attention back to the sky when he pulled me down by the strap of my dress. I got a little tingling sensation all over my body and felt my temperature climb. I smiled. “So…”

“So.” He replied, still staring at the sky.

“What are you going to do with me now that you have me all alone, Joshua?”

“We’re gonna play a little game.”

“Ooh! What kind of game?”

“20 questions. I ask you anything I want and you have to answer truthfully or you lose.” 

“Ok. Shoot.”  
  
He started off easy. Where I’m from, what I do for a living, my family, yadda yadda yadda. Then he asked about my interests in music, movies, sports, books, etc. There were a couple questions about where I’ve traveled and where I’d like to go someday. Then he asked about my last relationship. 

“We met at work, dated for 2 years, then he cheated on me with an intern. Next question.” 

He looked at me. “Oh. Shit. Uhhh….do you see yourself settling down?”

“Yes. I want a couple kids. Probably sooner rather than later. I’ll be 30 in 2 years, remember?”

“Yeah. I sort of forgot about that one.” He smiled. “You ever been with a younger guy?”

“In a relationship? Or sexually?”

His eyes returned to the sky. “Either.”

“Sexually, yes.” I covered my face with my hands. “It was just once, in college. I was an RA my senior year and he was one of my residents.”

“Nice! Scoring some extra points with the hot RA so he won’t get written up!”

“No. He had a thing for me the entire year, and I thought he was hot. Next question, please.”   
  
“Ok. What kind of guys do you like?”  _You._

“Uhh…non-smokers, with dogs who are athletic and up for anything.”

“Is that it?”

“Oh, and if he has a motorcycle, that’s a plus.”

He turned to face me and propped his head up on his hand. “You know…I have 2 motorcycles and 2 dogs, I’ve never touched a cigarette, I’m a great athlete and I’ll try anything at least once.”  
  
“Oh, well aren’t you Mr. Perfect. Next question.” I rolled my eyes.

He laughed and laid back down. “What turns you on?”  _The thought of you touching my body right now._

“I’m not answering that.”

“You have to answer or you lose the game.”

“That’s something you’ll have to find out for yourself.”


	13. Chapter 13

He smacked his hand down on the ground. “Oh come on! Why do you have to make this hard for me?”

"Because, its fun watching you suffer."

"Thanks a lot,” he huffed.

"No. It really is. You have it sooo easy. You think you can just walk up to any girl you want, flash that cocky smile of yours and she’ll do anything you want her to."

"Yeah, so?"

"That doesn’t work with me. I’m not some 18 year old who will believe every word that comes out of your mouth. You have to try a little harder."

"You suck. You really suck, you know that?" You’d think I just grounded him for 2 weeks.  
  
"Come on. It’s your turn now." I nudged his arm. "You answer all of my questions truthfully and I’ll let you try to guess where my weak spot is." His ears shot up the way my dog’s does when I say the word ‘walk’.

”Really? You’re not fucking with me right now? Are you?”

"I promise. You play right, you win the prize."

"Ok. Go ahead. I’m ready. What do you have for me?" He rubbed his hands together.

I asked the easy questions first, which, I knew most of the answers to because Kat always felt the need to tell me about him and every other celebrity crush she had. Then the questions got a little harder. He admitted he was 14 when he lost his virginity to his girlfriend at the time who ended up breaking his heart and cheating on him. I asked him if his first girlfriend was the only time he had his heart broken.

"Shannon wasn’t the only one, there were a few others. The worst was Vanessa."

“Who?”

“Hudgens. High School Musical?” 

“Yeah, I’ve never heard of her. Go on though.”

"Well she and I dated after we filmed Journey 2. Come to find out she was just using me to get back at Zac Effron for dumping her. She was just pretending the whole time we were together. She made it seem like she was in love with me. When we did interviews and premieres for Journey 2, all she talked about was how in love she was with her new boyfriend. After that, I swore I wouldn’t date anyone famous for a while."  
  
My heart was breaking to see the look on his face. I knew what it was like to be played like that. A boyfriend I had in highschool only dated me to make this other girl jealous. I changed the subject.  
  
"Favorite sex position?"

He snapped out of his thoughts. “Huh? Oh well…I…”

"Answer or you lose." I took my hair out of my ponytail.

"Um. I like when a girl puts her legs up on my shoulders." He cleared his throat. “What’s yours?" He smiled.

"I’m done answering your questions, remember?" 

He sighed. “Go on!”

“Is there a place where you’ve never had sex and would like to?”

“Uhhh….yeah.”

“Well? Where is it?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“I guess you don’t want to find out what turns me on.”  
  
“Ugh fine! Damn you, Sarah! I’ve always wanted to try it in a public place. But not like right out in the open. Like in a dressing room or dark corner in a crowded club or the back seat of a car in a busy parking lot, or…”

“A helicopter landing pad on a cruise ship?” I laughed.

“Haha, yeah, a helicopter landing pad on a cruise ship. No, that’s a little too out in the open, and I’m pretty sure they have security cameras all over this ship.”

“Yeah. That’s true.”

“Any more questions for me?”

“Just a couple more. Have you ever been with an older woman?”

“Yeah, well sort of…Vanessa and I fooled around but never…you know. She was the oldest.”

“So if you haven’t even slept with someone older, what makes you think you can please an older woman?”

“What?”  
  
“The other night, you said ‘Do you think I don’t know how to please an older woman?’ So I want to know. How would you please an older woman if you’ve never slept with one?”

He propped his head on his hand and faced me again. “Because I know how to read people. I’d be able to tell if I was doing something right or not. Next question.”

“I’m afraid I’m all out of questions.” 

“Good. Did I answer everything the way you wanted?” He leaned in closer.

“Yes.”   
  
He rolled onto his stomach and inched even closer to me, leaning his face down to meet mine. “Good.” He licked his lips once before pressing them onto mine. They were warm and soft, with just the right amount of wetness. I could taste the pineapple on his tongue, mixed with the Jack and Coke he had been drinking before. He draped his arm over my waist and traced his fingertips along the lining of my lace thong. I breathed deep into his mouth as our tongues continued dancing. He pulled away and looked at me, studying my eyes.

“Hmmm. I wonder. What makes Sarah Stewart go weak in the knees?”   
  
“Take a wild guess.”  _I’m already weak enough at it is. He does anything else to me, I’m going to lose it._ He began placing small kisses on my lips, then cheek, stopping every so often to look at my facial expression. When he wasn’t satisfied, he’d move to a different spot, kissing a few different ways to see if that did the trick. Nothing. Well, not that I didn’t feel something he just didn’t get to THAT spot yet. When he got to my earlobe, my breathing increased a little. He stopped to look at me, then went back for the earlobe, then looked at me again. He shook his head and moved his mouth to my neck.   
  
My breathing increased rapidly with every inch he moved closer to that one spot. He must have been able to feel my heart racing because he stopped sucking the skin when he got to it. The little crook in the side of my neck near the front, just above the collarbone. He studied my face again. I was helpless.

“What are you doing? Don’t stop!”  
  
He smiled, proudly. “Oh, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah.” He propped himself up. “Now it’s my turn to drive  _you_ crazy.”


	14. Chapter 14

I sat up, unsure of what just happened.  _He gave me a taste of my own medicine. Clever._ He had a smirk on his face when I looked back at him, still propped up on his hand. “Asshole!” I shoved him, almost knocking him over. “You don’t DO that!! What the hell?”

He was now laughing uncontrollably, so I smacked his arm. “Oww! What? You’re pissed because I stopped?”  
  
“Yes! I am. I’m very pissed. Because I know exactly what you’re doing and it’s not fair!” I walked over to the bow of the ship and looked down. 

“Awww. Someone’s mad because she can’t have what she wants?” He stood up. 

“Shut up,” I shouted, not turning around. He was right. I couldn’t have what I wanted. And I wanted him. Bad. I wanted to feel his body on top of mine. I wanted his mouth to explore the rest of me. I wanted to ride him like Seabiscuit.  
  
He stood behind me, putting his hands on my waist. He kissed my neck, gently, and whispered in my ear, causing me to get goosebumps all over my body. “Now you know how I feel.” 

I shook my head, still staring out at the water. “I fucking hate you so much right now.”   
  
“Just giving you what you deserve.” He managed to un-cling my hands from the railing and spun me around, but I didn’t look at him. I stared at his shirt. “Maybe you should have thought about who you were dealing with before you decided to go ahead and tease me.” I still didn’t make eye contact. I looked past his shoulder. “Hey. Look at me.” I shook my head. “Come on, Sarah.” I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from smiling. As much as I hated him right then, he was really cute. “You can’t stay mad at me for long.” He lifted up my chin and smiled, causing me to do the same.  
  
“Ugh you suck!” 

“Yup. I guess I do.” He whispered before kissing me on the lips again. I just started to wrap my arms around his neck when I heard a beep coming from my purse in the middle of the landing pad. Kathlyn. I ignored it. This was a good moment and I didn’t want it to be interrupted for anything.   
  
“HELLO! SARAH! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? I can’t hear a thing and it’s really loud over here and I can’t see you!” I felt Josh smile while he kept kissing me. “THIS FUCKING WALKIE TALKIE! SAR-AH ANSWER ME NOW DAMMIT!” Josh and I pulled away, laughing at Kathlyn screaming at me over the music through the walkie talkie. 

“You better answer her before she gets mad,” Josh laughed.

“Yeah, I don’t want to worry her.” I walked over to the circle and grabbed my purse.

“SARAH ELIZABETH STEWART!” I rolled my eyes and pulled out the walkie talkie.

“What??” 

“Oh thank God! Where the fuck are you? I’m near the Solarium. It’s loud as fuck by the pool.”

“Oh! I’ve been looking for you! I think the batteries are going dead in this walkie talkie!” 

“Dammit! We’ll have to buy some batteries tomorrow. Meet me at the room this music is giving me a headache.”  
  
I shut off the walkie talkie and shook my head at Kathlyn. She cracked me up. 

“Come on, I’ll walk you to your room.” Josh gestured towards the deck.

“I’m not sure if I want you knowing where I sleep at night, Joshua.”

“Why? Afraid I’ll sneak in in the middle of the night and have my way with you?”

“No.” I playfully shoved him.  _I’m afraid you won’t._  
  
Josh grabbed my hand while we were walking back, which I thought was pretty cute, but I didn’t want to be the talk of the ship, so I let go when we got closer to the elevators.   
  
“So…tomorrow. Antigua. Should be pretty nice. If you’re not doing anything….”

“Sure.” 

“But you don’t even know what I was going to ask.”

“Yeah, I don’t care.” I smiled. I really didn’t care what we did. We could pick up trash off the side of the road. He made me feel like I was 17 again. My insides turned to jell-o whenever I was near him, and I liked it.  
  
As soon as we got to the hallway where my room was, Josh pushed me up against the wall and pinned my hands above my head. He kissed me as hard as he could, and I willingly opened my mouth to let his tongue slide in. His kisses were forceful, but gentle at the same time. He slammed his hips against mine, making me feel how hard he was. I gasped when he started kissing my neck again.   
  
“You’re not going to tease me again, are you?” He stopped and looked up at me, unpinning my hands from the wall. “Josh?” I asked again, desperate that he’d say no. 

“You know what my plan is, Sarah?” 

“What?” 

“To always leave you wanting more. So much that you have to beg for it.” He planted a small kiss on my lips. I felt defeated. He beat me at my own game. Twice, in the course of a half hour.


	15. Chapter 15

I took a deep breath when he pulled away from me. “Are you usually like this? So demanding and controlling?”

  
“No. I never talk like that.” His voice changed and he sounded flustered. “I’m typically a nice, caring guy who takes things slow. But you? You turned me into this asshole who has to just go for what he wants.”

“What do you want, Joshua?”

“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. And then where would we be?”

“I have no idea.” I shrugged and started walking to my room.

“Hey!” His voice made me stop. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I nodded and put my card into the slot on the door. I heard the lock click and I turned the knob, stopping for a second to look back at him. He smiled and waved before turning around.    
  
I got up at 7:30 the next morning and woke up Kathlyn, I was exhausted.

“Hey, wake up, we should go eat before our tour. The ship was already docked at the port of St. John’s, Antigua. We had a 9am excursion, but, thankfully, it was only scheduled for a couple hours and didn’t demand much physically.  
  
Kathlyn and I staked out a table next to a window in the dining room, ordered our drinks and got up to get our breakfast in the buffet line. I smiled when I saw Josh, who was turned around, scooping eggs onto his plate. I went to the egg station and picked up a plate and stood next to him. I noticed he had his sunglasses on.  
  
“You know we’re inside, right?” He almost dropped his plate and turned around to see who was talking to him.

“Jesus Christ, Sarah! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Someone a little jumpy this morning?” I smiled.

“I couldn’t sleep last night if you must know.” He turned back to the buffet line and picked up the bottle of hot sauce, pouring it on his eggs.

“Why?” I put some eggs on my plate. He turned back around to face me and leaned in.

“Because I was thinking about what I want to do to you later.” His comment sent a rush of energy soaring through my body, straight to my core. I could feel my face turning red. Oh great. I turned around to see Michelle standing next to me in line.

I was so flustered, I didn’t realize it at first when she said hi to me. “Are you having a good time?”  
  
I shook my head, trying to forget what her son just said to me. “Oh, uh, yeah. I’m loving it!”

Especially the way your 21 year old son gets me all hot and bothered.

“We’re planning on an easy day today. I think the boys are a little tired from all the sightseeing.” She gestured to Josh who was rubbing his eyes under his sunglasses waiting for his toast at another station.

“Awww.” Ugh he’s adorable. “Yeah we have a tour this morning and then we’ll probably hit the beach.” Well. Kat will hit the beach, I’ll be spending time with your first born child, probably doing who knows what. I figured it was time to tell Kathlyn about Josh. Not every detail, she didn’t need to know that he made my spine tingle. I smiled at Josh when I walked past him to the table.  
  
I let out a sigh when I sat down. “So I have to tell you something.”

Kathlyn was just yawning. “Sorry! What?”

“I was hanging out with Josh last night. I wasn’t at the pool deck. Don’t be mad at me!”

She set her drink on the table as her eyes bugged out of her head. “Really?? I’m not even mad, I’m jealous, but I’m not mad! What did you do?”

“Nothing,” I smiled, lying through my teeth.  “We just sat outside and talked for a while.” Kathlyn could tell something happened.

“And…..?”

“And, none of your business,” I blushed.

“Mhmmm.”

I took a sip of coffee. “Anyways, he wants to hang out with me later. Is that ok?” She looked at him from across the room, he was laughing at something his dad was saying.

“Sure, he seems like a good guy. I’ll chill on the beach with Ashley and Lisa. But you have to fill me in on what happens, okay? Promise?”

“I’m not telling you everything.”

“No. Eve-ry-thing. This is Josh Hutcherson we’re talking about here. I want details. Like all 5 senses details. Got it?”

I rolled my eyes and smiled.  
  
Stepping onto the pier in Antigua was like stepping into a Jimmy Buffet song. There were palm trees and brightly painted buildings everywhere. The air was hot and humid and smelled tropical. The diver for our bus tour greeted us as we stepped on. We did a 2 hour tour of the area, stopping at a few private beaches and historical sites along the way. I think Antigua was my favorite stop so far. The locals that we ran into were so nice and hospitabitable.  
  
Stepping back onto the bus after the last stop, a man in line behind me asked “Hey, where’s your husband? I didn’t see him anywhere.” I was utterly confused. I turned around to see the nice older couple from the hot tub in the spa and remembered the morning before. Kathlyn looked at the man like he had 4 heads.

“Oh, you must have me confused with someone else. I’m not married. See?” I held up my left hand. The man looked bewildered and scratched his head.

“Oh. Sorry! That happens with old age sometimes! You look like this lovely young lady my wife and I met who is on her honeymoon. I thought it was you.”

“Nope, that’s not me!” I smiled politely and got on the bus.

“What was that about?” asked Kathlyn when we sat down.  
  
“Don’t even ask.” I shook my head and smiled, looking out the window.

When we arrived back at the port, I was beyond excited to get to spend some time with Josh. I didn’t know what he had up his sleeves, but I was anxious to find out after what he said to me at breakfast. I beeped him on the walkie talkie. “Josh?” A few minutes later, my walkie talkie beeped back.

“Hey, what’s up?”

"Nothing, just got done with the tour. Still want to hang out?"

"Yeah! Give me like a half hour, we walked to this beach from the pier and I have to do something first and I’ll pick you up outside of that Napoleon Cafe place next to the port."

 


	16. Chapter 16

I snapped a few photos of other tourists doing tourist-y things while I waited for Josh on the pier. Kathlyn, Ashley and Lisa waited with me so I wouldn’t be alone. It started getting hot. I was thankful I wore my bathing suit under my clothes. I tore off my t-shirt and stuffed it into my bag and lathered up with sunscreen. The sun was brutal. I just put the bottle of sunscreen back into my bag when I heard the revving of an engine. It was a motorcycle coming down the road towards the pier.   
  
My eyes grew wide when the driver looked in my direction and waved, still wearing the helmet. I knew right away it was Josh. His blue striped tank-top gave it away. 

“Oh yes!” I clapped my hands together and laughed.

Kathlyn put her hand on my shoulder and gasped when he took his helmet off. “I hope he straddles you like he’s straddling that bike right now.” His hair was still a little wet from the ocean. I looked at Kat once more for approval before walking, she smacked her hand on my right asscheek. “Go! I’ll see you back on the ship.” I made my way towards the bike when I heard, “Sarah!” I turned back to Kat shouting at me. “Remember! All. 5. Senses.” I rolled my eyes.  
  
“What’s this?” I asked as I walked up to him.

“This here is what we call a motorcycle. It’s like a bicycle but with an engine,” he said it slowly like I was an idiot.

“You’re an asshole.You rented this?”

“Yeah, they have a rental place down the street. Hop on!” He handed me a helmet. I took my hair out of my ponytail and let it fall to my shoulders. I caught Josh staring at me. 

“What?”

He looked me up and down. “Nothing.”  
  
I put on the helmet and adjusted the strap before getting on the bike behind Josh. He put his helmet back on, started the engine and turned his head back towards me. “You ready?” He shouted over the loud hum of the bike.

“Yes! I don’t know where we’re going, but yes!” I shouted back. The bike jerked forward, giving me a rush of adrenaline. I wrapped my arms around Josh’s waist as we took off down a city street. We turned onto this ocean-side road, passing crowds of tourists from other ships. I looked out at the ocean as we passed our ship and a few others docked at the pier. I still had no clue where he was taking me, but I didn’t really care.  
  
When we came to the end of the road, Josh took a left down a residential neighborhood. The houses were so small and close together, much different from what it looked like in Michigan where everyone had big yards and plenty of grass. After navigating through the rows of houses, I was starting to suspect that Josh had no clue where he was going. We turned right onto a two-lane road. I gripped onto Josh tight when we picked up speed. He down to look at my hands around his waist, then looked back at the road. We stopped 15 minutes later at Faimouth Harbor, practically on the other side of the island. When we parked the bike, I didn’t recognize anyone from our ship. There were only a few busses dropping people on and off to look around.   
  
“You hungry?” asked Josh as he got off the bike and took off his helmet. 

I looked around for somewhere to eat. There was a little hut on the other side of the street that caught my attention. “Let’s check that out.” I nodded towards it, removing my helmet and trying to fix my windblown hair.  
  
“Alright, come on.” He grabbed my hand and we walked across the street. The food at this little hut was probably the best I ever had. Josh was charming as ever as we chatted for a while with the owner of the place about the island and the culture in Antigua. She suggested going to this one pineapple farm while we were there. We decided we’d check it out on the way back to the ship.   
  
We walked around by the harbor for a while, talking about anything and everything, from outer space and aliens, our dogs, politics, holidays, family and old TV shows. He was so different from the cocky asshole I met on the ship. I felt like I was talking with one of my best friends. I felt no pressure at all to share anything with him.   
  
“Hey, I wonder where that leads to.” He nodded towards a walking trail next to the harbor. I was feeling adventurous so I agreed to check it out. We held hands, checking out the exoctic birds and other wildlife we saw on the trail. I shot tons of pictures, even taking a couple of the two of us. The trail ended on a small, deserted beach. We dropped our stuff and jumped in the water. The water felt nice and cool against my burning skin. When Josh came up from under water, he looked off in the distance.   
  
“Look at that!” He pointed. “Do you see them?”

I had to squint at first, but finally saw a few dolphins jumping out of the water. My eyes lit up.  “Oh my God I can’t believe it! Look at them! I’ve never seen them up close before!” I wanted to cry. Josh laughed at me.  
“What’s so funny?” I smacked him.

“You. I’ve never seen someone go crazy over a few dolphins. You’ve never seen them ever? I see them all the time in California.”  
  
“No! They’re my favorite! I’ve only ever seen them at Sea World! I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was a kid because of that movie Flipper! I’ve always wanted to swim with them but never got the cha….” I was cut off by Josh pressing his lips to mine.


	17. Chapter 17

I remember the first time I ever got butterflies in my stomach over a boy. I was 12 and had a huge crush on Jake McCarthy, my old friend Danielle’s next door neighbor. Every time he looked in my direction, the butterflies started flapping their wings. The few other times Josh kissed me before this, it made my panties wet. This time was different. I felt those butterflies again.   
  
We pulled away when a boat zipped by, making some huge waves that almost knocked us over. We swam back to the beach and sat down in the sand, letting the sun dry us off. 

“So, Josh.” I leaned back, propping myself up on my elbows.

“So, Sarah.” He sat up, hugging his knees.

“I’m curious to know what thoughts you were having that kept you up all night last night.”

He turned his attention away from the water and looked at me. “I said I’d have to kill you if I told you that.”   
  
“So show me.” I nudged him with my knee.

He reluctantly looked around to see if anyone was there. “Here?”

I peered back at the trail we came in on. “This isn’t as open as a helicopter landing pad.”

He sighed. “Alright, but if we get caught, I’m blaming it all on you.”

“Half the thrill is the fear of getting caught. Don’t be such a wuss.” I rolled my eyes and laid down on my back.   
  
I heard him grunt as he rolled to his knees. His body towering over me gave my eyes some relief from the bright sun. A few drops of water from his still wet hair fell down and grazed my stomach, making me jump at the coolness. He straddled his legs on either side of my hips.  _I hope he straddles you like he’s straddling his bike. Oh Kathlyn, your wish came true._  
  
He bent down, holding himself up with his hands, trying not to crush me and hovered his face over mine, getting close to my lips. I was ready to kiss him when he moved away, softly kissing the tip of my nose, then both cheeks and forehead. He moved to my neck, making sure to spend a few extra seconds at  _the spot_. He started grinding his hips against mine while his hand thumbed over the left cup of my bikini top, making my nipple stand at attention.   
  
He shifted up to my face again, this time forcefully kissing my lips, almost taking my breath away. I had to gasp for air when he moved to the other side of my neck. He licked the skin over my collarbone and traced his tongue along the inner edge of my bikini top, looking up and smiling at me when he got to the center of the string at the bottom of my chest. He looked so innocent, but there was nothing innocent about what he was about to do to me.  
  
His tongue trailed its way back up along the other side of my bikini top and stopped halfway. Josh pushed the fabric away with his nose, allowing his lips to meet the bare skin of my right breast. I let a few moans slip out as he cupped it in his hand and flicked the nipple with his tongue. He peeled the fabric away from my other side and did the same thing, engulfing all of it in his mouth.   
  
When he started placings small kisses down the center of my stomach, I just about lost it, because I knew where he was going. He stopped after kissing the outside of my bikini bottoms a few times and returned to my lips. 

“You want more, Sarah?”

“Oh god, yes!” I moaned. 

“I don’t know. That doesn’t sound very convincing!”

“Josh I want you to make me come!” I demanded. He was taken aback at how blunt I was at first, but agreed and kissed me again.

“Alright, if you insist.”  
  
He immediately returned to the outside lining of my bikini bottoms kissing and letting his fingers stroke my clit through the nylon. My breathing was rapid at this point. He moved my bottoms to the side, exposing my aching sex. I rose my head to look at him. He looked up at me as I was about to say something. “Relax. Just lay back down and let me do what I need to.” I did as he instructed and felt his index finger trace my folds before sliding in. “Holy shit, you’re fucking wet,” he exclaimed.

“You see what you do to me, Joshua?” I breathed, clenching my breasts, which were all I had to hang on to as his fingers pumped in and out of me.  
  
He played with my folds again before taking his hand away and replacing it with his mouth. His tongue slid along the peaks and valleys of my walls while he buried his nose into my clit. “Mmm you taste so good,” he groaned before circling my clit with his tongue.

I rose my head to get a good look at him going down on me. Seeing his eyes meet mine from between my legs sent me over the edge. I put my head back down. He stuck two fingers into me while sucking on my nub. His fingers curved upwards, pressing against my G-spot with every thrust.   
  
“Oh God!” I whimpered and tugged at my hair. The wave was getting closer. I felt him smile in between my legs as he thrust his fingers even harder. “Ohhh Josh, please don’t stop! For the love of God don’t fucking stop!” I breathed heavier than ever. He replaced his fingers with his tongue and then it hit me like a tidal wave. Every muscle in my body tensed up as I was sent into a state of euphoria. “I’m coming! I’m coming! I’m coming!” I repeated over and over as the wave came crashing down. My breathing subsided and he lifted his head up to look at me, panting heavily. 

“Wow! That was….amazing.” I breathed.

“Thank you. I told you I knew what I was doing.” He smiled proudly and scooted up to lay next to me.


	18. Chapter 18

I’ve never been fond of cuddling, especially after partaking in any kind of sexual activity. I was a wham, bam thank you ma’am kind of girl 99% of the time. My ex was the cuddler in my last relationship. He’d always pull me in tight after we had sex, making me hot and uncomfortable.   
  
It was different with Josh, though. I didn’t mind laying on his arm that was stretched out under my neck. I arched my head up to look at him and was mesmerized by the flecks of gold in his eyes brought out by the sun. He brought his sand-covered palm up to my cheek and kissed me, letting me taste myself on his lips.  
  
We laid on the beach for a while, just holding onto each other with our eyes closed. I didn’t want to fall asleep, so I propped my head up in my hand and watched Josh lay there with his eyes still shut. I traced the anchor tattoo on his side with my index finger, making him flinch and open his eyes. He smiled and closed them again, letting me continue running my fingers along the smooth curve of his torso. He stopped my hand when I got to the top of his shorts and looked up at the trail .   
  
“What?” 

“Shhh. Do you hear that?” He picked his head up. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted 2 little kids racing each other to the ocean, with their parents not far behind.  _Fuck!  
_

“Dammit. Good thing they didn’t get here 5 minutes ago!”

Josh sat up, brushing the sand off his arms and hands. “They would have gotten a good show!”  
  
We jumped back in the water to rinse all the sand off and made our way back to the harbor. It was so hot that we were practically dry by the time we got back to where we parked the bike. The leather seat of the motorcycle burned the backs of my legs, but I got used to it after a few minutes.   
  
We headed down the same road we came in on and stopped at the pineapple farm 20 minutes later. After touring the farm and learning about how pineapples are harvested and shipped, we tasted a few different types of drinks and foods made with pineapple. My favorite was called the Antiguan Kiss - a fruity concoction of rum, brandy, pineapple and orange juices that was served in a hollowed out pineapple.    
  
By the time we were done, it was time to head back to the ship. I grabbed my helmet and started to straddle the back of the bike when Josh stopped me. “Nope, you’re sitting there.” He pointed to the front seat. 

“No! I’ll crash! We’ll end up in a ditch and die! I can’t drive this thing!”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry! You said you’ve always wanted to see what it was like to drive one, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but I’m a chicken. I’m a big chicken. I’m all talk. I don’t know why I said that! I must not have been thinking!”

“It’s too late now.” He sat on the back of the bike and patted the front seat. “Come on, don’t be a wuss!” He mimicked me earlier.

I took a deep breath and put on my helmet. “I hate you.” I shook my head and hopped on, gripping the handle bars. “Ok, what the hell do I do?” I asked looking around at the knobs and levers in front of me. I couldn’t even drive a stick shift. I drove a Prius for God’s sake.   
  
“Turn the key to the right and grip the clutch.”

“The what?” I asked shakingly. He put his fingers over mine, making me grasp a lever on the left handlebar and kicked a bar near the bottom of the bike.

“Now start it.”

“I thought I did! I turned the key!”

“Do you hear it running? No. Press the button right there.” He pointed to a little red button on the right hand side of the bike. The engine fired up and vibrations starting hitting every part of my body after I pressed it. 

“Ahh! I started it!” I was so excited and we weren’t even moving yet. Josh took his hand off mine, releasing the clutch.

“Ok, now you have to grip the throttle.” He shouted and put my hand on the right handle bar and pulled it backwards, rotating the throttle. With a steady jerk, we began moving forward. A small scream escaped my mouth, causing people who were in the parking lot stop to look. We rode down the street very slowly at first, so I could get used to shifting and braking. After stalling the bike a few times, I finally got the hang of it.  
  
I didn’t go as fast as we did when Josh drove, but he didn’t let go of my waist the whole time we were riding. We rolled into St. John’s 15 minutes later, stopping at a red light in town. Josh’s hands fell to the inside of my thighs, causing me to get the same tingly sensation I got before we fooled around on the beach. I was sent over the edge when he started giving me kisses on the back of my neck. I slapped his leg before pulling away from the light, to which he took his hands off me and gripped the side of the bike.   
  
I pulled into the parking lot of the rental company and waited for Josh to sign something in the office. We walked back to the ship, smiling at each other. We parted hands when we got to the pier, in case we ran into Kat, Josh’s family, Evan, Kristen or anyone else on the ship for that matter. We walked through security and made our way to the elevators with a group of people. When the elevator stopped at my deck, Josh got out with me.   
  
“I wish we could do that again.” He looked around, scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah, it was fun. Thanks Hutcherson.” I smiled and patted him on the chest. I was about to walk away when he grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it, causing the butterflies to start fluttering again. _  
_


	19. Chapter 19

Searching for an excuse to see him again, I told him I’d be hitting the gym around 7 the next morning before me and Kat’s parasailing excursion and if he wanted to he could meet me there. I smiled all the way down the hall to the room, passing the picture next to the spot where he shoved me up against the wall. I was instantaneously turned on.   
  
Kathlyn was on the balcony snapping pictures of the island when I got in the room. I put my bag down on my bed and joined her outside.

  
"Hey!" I breathed, still smiling from ear to ear. She turned to look at me, noting my expression.

  
"You fucked him didn’t you?" she asked excitedly. 

  
I laughed and shook my head. “Oh Kat.” I went back in the room and she followed me. She put her hands on her hips the way mom used to when I was in trouble.

"You did! You fucked him! Look at your face! You can’t hide it!"

"Kathlyn Marie, we didn’t fuck!" I snapped.  
  
"Well tell me you got some action! You can’t be whisked away on a fucking motorcycle by a celebrity heartthrob, a really young sexy one by the way, on a beautiful tropical island and not get some tail!" She slapped her hand on the bed gesturing for me to sit. "Spill. I want everything!"

I began telling her about the small restaurant we went to and the nice lady who told us about the island when she cut me off.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah I don’t fucking care about that, get to the action!"

I told her about the trail we found that led to the small beach and started getting hot flashes replaying the scenario in my head. I provided, as asked, full details of what went down on the beach, and burst out laughing when I got to the part when he made me beg for him to make me come.

"Hahaha, then he uh, well….let’s just say he knows what he’s doing with his tongue."

Kat smacked my arm. “You’re such a slut! Good for you!” She went on telling me about her day while we picked out clothes for that night.  
  
After dinner and one too many drinks later, we found ourselves in the karaoke bar, doing a pretty kick ass rendition of Stop by the Spice Girls. When we were 13, we practiced the dance from their video for hours in my basement until we got it right. My parents wanted to kill us for playing the song over and over again. When we sat back down, Josh and his brother came up to us. He began slow clapping at us. “Bravo ladies!”

“Thanks!” I smiled. “When are you going up there?”

“Josh doesn’t sing. He can’t carry a tune.” piped in Connor. 

“He’s right. I can’t sing for shit.”

“What about you, Connor? You sing?”

“Yeah, a little bit. I’m not that good though.” I got up, dragging Connor by the hand and stood in line to sing again. I didn’t really care if I sounded horrible, when I had enough alcohol running through my veins, I’d sing anything.  
  
After a few 17 year old girls slutted it up dancing and attempting to sing to Britney Spears while mind fucking Josh, Connor and I took our turn. He picked Mr. Jones by the Counting Crows. For an 18 year old, he had good taste in music. After jumping around like a maniac singing the song, I was wiped out and took my seat, sipping on water that Kathlyn ordered for me.   
  
“So Kathlyn tells me that you used to want to be Ginger Spice.”

“Yeah, she was my favorite. Kat was Posh, remember?” I looked at her and she nodded.

“Wasn’t Ginger also known as Sexy spice?” He raised an eyebrow at me. I blushed and Kathlyn’s eyes and smile grew wide. 

“Uh, yeah I think so. She was the sexiest one of the group.” I looked over to my left and saw Josh’s parents walking towards us and immediately became flustered. After uncomfortably saying hello to them, I dragged Kathlyn out of there and we went to our room for the night.   
  
The next morning, I woke up with a little bit of a hangover, but was excited to go to the gym to burn off all the crap I ate the night before. The only other person in the gym was the girl behind the desk who Josh flirted with the other time I was there. I filled up my water bottle and grabbed an elliptical machine and put on my headphones. I watched the tv screen in front of me showing what there was to do in St. Kitts, our stop for the day.   
  
I was just breaking a sweat when the door opened and Josh strolled in. He gave me a sexy half-smile and looked around at the empty gym. The girl behind the desk excitedly waved to him and he nodded at her before hopping on the elliptical next to me. “Morning, wife.” He smacked me with his towel and put his music on. Being around Josh, even at 7 in the morning turned me into a sexual deviant. I scrolled to my playlist and came to Anytime, Anyplace by Janet Jackson. He noticed me playing with my ipod with a smile on my face and before I knew it, grabbed it from my hands.   
  
“What are YOU listening to, Sarah Stewart?” He pulled off his headphones and put mine in his ear. He stopped the elliptical for a few seconds to listen and licked his lips a few times before giving it back to me. “That’s not the kind of music you should be listening to while exercising.” 

“You don’t steal someone’s ipod, Joshua!” I smacked his arm and continued exercising. A few minutes later, he ripped one of my earphones out of my ear. 

“What are you doing today?” He asked leaning over the side of his machine.

“We’re going parasailing this morning! I’m so excited!” 

“Oh. Anything this afternoon?”

“No, I think we were gonna do some shopping and just walk around after.”

“I want to take you somewhere. Will you come with me?”

“Where?” I asked curiously.

“It’s a surprise. Just come with me. Please?” He clasped his hands together and stuck out his lower lip.

“Fine. I’ll go.” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t you have a family to spend time with?”

“Yeah I can see them anytime.” He waved the thought of hanging out with them away.  
  
We agreed to meet around 12 outside of the ship before parting ways for the morning. On the walk back to the room, I felt someone grab my arm. I smiled, thinking it was Josh wanting to give me a hot and sweaty kiss, but I was horrified when I turned around and saw Evan’s face.


	20. Chapter 20

“Where you goin’ sweetheart?” The smell of alcohol on his breath hit me like a Mack truck. His disheveled appearance suggested he had been out drinking all night. 

“Get off me, Evan., I growled and tried to shake my arm free.

“Oooooh Sarah. Why do you talk to me like that? You know how bad I want you when you fight back.” He tightened his grip on my arm and began slowly pushing me towards the wall of the hallway we were standing in.

“What the fuck do you want from me?”

“You know what I want,” he whispered as his hand made its way to my thigh, which I immediately smacked off. “Oooh yeah, hit me again! Do it!” he demanded.

“Touch me again and I’ll give you a black eye,” I threatened. 

“Why don’t you want to fuck me, Sarah? Is it because of that douchebag rich guy I keep seeing you with? I didn’t think you were a gold digger, Sarah.”

“Leave him out of this.”

“Oh it is. Well that’s sweet.” His hand hit the wall behind me, causing me to flinch. “Really fucking sweet. If I can’t have you….” He stopped and released me from the wall when an older couple came out of their room and walked down the hallway. “You’re lucky, Sarah.” He looked back at me when they turned to corner. “Stay away from him.”

“You can’t make me,” I challenged, igniting a fire in his eyes. He raised his hand up like he was going to backhand me. “Really? You’d hit a woman? Wow. You must get all the ladies.” I turned and walked away, thankful a family of four was walking towards me. I heard him smack his hand against the wall, causing the mother of the family to jump.

I hurried into the room and dead bolted the door, letting out a sigh of relief that I could get away from him. I woke up Kathlyn after the ship finished docking and we made our way to breakfast. I sat quietly eating my french toast, only making small talk with Kathlyn, which wasn’t like me at all. I made an excuse stating I was just tired when she asked what was wrong. I went back up to the buffet to refill my coffee and came back to find an excited looking Josh and Kathlyn at the table. 

“Morning.” I smiled at Josh and sat down next to Kat since he took my seat.

“Josh has a surprise for you later! You’re going to love it! He just told me!” Kat smiled.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about!” he laughed.

My smile faded when I saw Evan pass by the window, hanging all over some girl who was falling for his fake charm. Even though he couldn’t see me, I glared at him. Both Kat and Josh looked to see what got me so angry.

“What a fucking douchebag.” Josh exclaimed and got up. “Alright I’m gonna get back to my table, I’ll see you at 12, right?”

I didn’t hear what he said because I had been replaying my run in with Evan. I slammed my cup of OJ on the table. “Ugh mother fucker makes me sick.” I rubbed my wrist which still sort of hurt from him grabbing it so tight. 

“I hope that girl know what she’s getting herself into,” chimed Kathlyn.

I turned towards her. “Me too. I ran into him this morning, he’s still drunk from last night.” I looked at Josh, who sat back down. “He grabbed me on my way back from gym.”

“What did he say to you?” Josh demanded.

“I don’t really remember, it all happened so fast.” My leg began to shake, which only happens when I’m nervous.

“He didn’t touch you, did he?” asked Josh, softening his voice.

“Well he tried grabbing my thigh but I smacked him.”

“Good girl!” Kathlyn added.

“He probably would have hit me because I said some stuff that didn’t make him too happy, but these people walked by, so all he did was hit the wall like a tough guy.”

“That’s it!” Josh stood up, dropping the fork he was playing with down on the table.

“No, Josh don’t do anything stupid!” I pleaded.

“I’m just gonna talk to him,” he said while walking away. I started to get up to stop him, but Kathlyn pulled me down.

“No, let him go.”

“He doesn’t need to fight my battles for me!”

“Sarah, Evan almost hit you! Someone needs to show him that’s not okay!”

I watched as Josh made his way outside. The scowl on his face was really sexy. The way he was clenching his jaw got my hormones going. I had to snap out of it, though. I saw him say Evan’s name, causing him to turn around and take his arm off the girl’s shoulder.

Josh stood next to Evan, probably talking quietly so they wouldn’t disturb the others on the deck. Josh pointed to the window and flew his arms out to the side in a ‘what the hell’ kind of motion. Evan started talking like a tough guy, right in Josh’s face. Then he pushed him, slightly. Josh shook his head and held out his hands, trying to calm Evan down. Some of the other passengers around us began to watch, saying “Oh my God that’s Josh Hutcherson! What’s he doing?” I was so glad his family was on the other side of the dining room and had no clue any of this was happening.

It looked like Josh had reasoned with Evan, because he started backing away. But suddenly, Evan became enraged and pushed Josh again, this time harder. I let out a huge gasp and quickly ran outside, ignoring Kathlyn’s call for me.

“Look, I’m not trying to start anything, I’m just asking you man to man not to go near Sarah, ok?”

“You can’t tell me what to do, Hollywood! I’ll go near her when I damn well please.” Evan raised his voice.

“STOP! Both of you!” I interrupted. Josh turned to look at me and I shook my head at him. 

“Hey!” Evan shouted. Josh turned back to him and in one quick shot, Evan delivered a blow right to Josh’s face.


	21. Chapter 21

Before I could react, two large male passengers were holding Josh and Evan back. The commotion that erupted on the deck after the punch was enough to get the attention of Josh’s parents on the other side of the dining room. Michelle came running out first to check on Josh, followed by Chris and Connor.   
  
A cruise ship employee rushed to the scene after someone got him. He took Evan by the arm and led him out of sight around the corner. Another employee asked everyone surrounding the area to leave before asking Josh if he was alright. My hands were still covering my mouth in shock and I jumped when Kathlyn put her hand on my shoulder.  
  
“Oh my God! Is he ok?” She and I both watched as the staff member asked Josh a few questions. He kept wiping his bottom lip, which kept bleeding. The employee was explaining something to Josh and his mom, who had her arm around his shoulder. I was confused when Josh pointed in my direction. The employee patted him on the shoulder and made his way to me.  
  
He asked Kathlyn to step back and asked me about how I knew Evan. I told him about how Evan tried to attack me one of the first few nights on the ship by the pool and again in the hallway that morning. He told me that they had several complaints from other passengers about Evan’s behavior and that he was being escorted off the ship immediately.   
  
I let out a huge sigh of relief and told Kathlyn. Josh was still with his parents.

  
“Mom, I told you I’m fine! I need to be left alone!” He started walking in our direction, still wiping his lip. Michelle hollered at him, “Ok, we’ll check on you in a little bit.” 

I walked over to Michelle. “Is he gonna be ok?”

“Oh, yeah, he always has to be the hero. He’s been like that ever since he was little.” She put her hand on my shoulder. “I heard what happened this morning. Are you ok?”

I smiled politely. “Yeah, thank you. I’m glad he’s gone. He was such a creep.”

“Well, try to enjoy yourself, honey!” She waved to Kat and I and walked away behind Chris and Connor.

Kat and I still had an hour before our parasailing excursion. I still really wanted to do it, but had to check to see if Josh was ok first. “I just need to go see if he’s ok, I’ll meet you in the room in a little bit, then we can go catch the bus for parasailing.”

“Ok, I’ll see you soon.”  
  
I walked in the direction that Josh went and didn’t see him anywhere. I thought maybe he went up to his room. He told me the number the night we hung out on the helicopter landing pad in an effort to invite me up, but I obviously didn’t let him persuade me. I pressed the button on the elevator for deck 12 and when the doors opened, I walked down the hallway to his room. I knocked a few times, but there was no answer. I started walking back down the hallway to the elevator and stopped when I heard his door open.   
  
He stepped into the hallway and didn’t say anything, but gave me a smoldering look while holding a tissue to his mouth. I rushed over to him and put my hands on his chest. “I’m so sorry, Josh. Are you ok?” He nodded and opened his door, holding it to let me in. He and his brother shared a suite, it was twice the size of me and Kathlyn’s stateroom and had a huge balcony. I ignored the beautiful room and focused back on Josh, who was sitting on the edge of the freshly made bed, checking to see if his lip was still bleeding.  
  
I sat next to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He looked at me and I pulled his hand from his face. The bottom part of his lip was busted open and still a little bloody. I grabbed an ice cube from the ice bucket on the dresser and put it to his lip. He tensed up when the coolness hit his skin, but calmed down when I put my free hand on his cheek.   
  
“You didn’t have to do that,” I whispered, patting the wetness from his lip with the tissue.

“Yes I did.” His tongue glided over the open wound. “I think it’s ok now, thanks.” He gave me a partial smile and I got up to toss the ice cube in the bathroom sink.

“I don’t think anyone has ever taken a shot to the face for me before. You took it like a champ!” I patted his leg when I sat back down.

“Thanks,” he laughed. “If I had no dignity, I would have kicked the shit out of him.”

“Well, we don’t have to worry about him anymor,” I sighed.  Josh put his fingers to his mouth again. “Does it hurt?” I asked.

“A little bit, yeah. It will probably hurt a lot worse tomorrow.” I took the hand that was touching his lip and held it at his side while I leaned in and gave him a soft kiss.

“Better?”

“Mhmm,” he hummed.

"Good. We don’t want those lips of yours to be out of commission." I kissed him again and his hands made their way to my cheeks, making me feel hot and flustered. I loved it whenever a guy did that to me. I found myself wanting him more every time his hands moved on my skin. There was something electrifying about his touch that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Here, lay down," I instructed, gently pushing him onto his back. 

"What are you doing?" he questioned, inching up so his head was on a pillow.

"Repaying you."


	22. Chapter 22

Tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, I climbed on top of him, pinning his hands to the bed. His eyes widened as I lowered myself on top of him.

"Do I make you nervous, Joshua?" I asked and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Yes." He swallowed hard. "Yes, you scare the shit out of me, Sarah," he stammered.

I smiled proudly and kissed his cheek again. “Good.” I kissed my way down his face, avoiding his tender lips, and traced my tongue along his rigid jaw line. He let out a soft whimper when I got to his collarbone and I smiled knowing I had found his weak spot.

"Ohhh you’re killing me right now," he whispered.

"Don’t worry," I said as I released his hands and sat up, straddling his hips, "I won’t tease you." He smiled and put his hands on both sides of my waist. “But this,” I tugged at his shirt, “this won’t do. We need to lose this.”

I pulled the white v-neck over his stomach and he sat up to help me take it off. I tossed it onto the floor and explored the crevices of his abs with my fingers, making him squirm. “Are we ticklish, this morning?” I laughed at his facial expression and he nodded.

I lowered myself back onto his chest, relishing in the warmth of his bare skin against my cold arms and I kissed him lightly on the lips before making my way to his neck where I began nibbling on the salty flesh. His dick began to swell from beneath me as I ground my hips against his. I moved lower, kissing his chest through the patch of chest hair and licked each of his nipples which were now both standing straight up in the air.

His hands fisted through my hair while I scooted even lower, leaving a trail of saliva along the curves of his abs. I ran my hand along the length of his now fully erect penis through his shorts and Josh let out a long, soft moan.

I untied the string of his shorts and Josh lifted his hips, letting me wiggle them, along with his blue boxers off. His cock slapped up against his abdomen with a thwack sound. I sat in awe for a moment studying its size and I became hungry for it.

I scooted up to his face and kissed him again and whispered, “Do you want to fuck my mouth, Josh?”

"Uh-huh." He whispered back. I moved my hand to his throbbing member and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"What was that?"

"Oh God, Sarah! Yes, please! Don’t make me wait anymore! I’m about to explode!" he cried in agony.

"Ok, ok! Jeeze!" I laughed.

"Ugh you’re a sexual terrorist!" he hollered. I grabbed his cock at the base and placed small pecks on its head. I moved my hair back behind my shoulders before swirling my tongue around the tip.

"Mmmm, you taste good," I exclaimed before engulfing all of him in my mouth. He groaned as my lips enveloped his shaft. I felt his hands on the back of my head, pushing me down further, while I bobbed my head up and down.

"Fuck yeah, right there!" His dick was throbbing in my mouth, so to extend his pleasure, I began palming his balls and massaging them between my fingers.

He was close, I could feel it. His hips started bucking, making him hit the back of my throat and triggering my gag reflex.

I lifted my head for a moment to look at him. “Just come in my mouth, ok?”

"Uh huh!" He stared back at me. I took him in my mouth again and sucked on the tip, circling it with my tongue and licking the drops of precum that were starting to spurt out. He began heaving uncontrollably.

"Yeah, don’t stop!" he grunted through clenched teeth. "I’m, I’m, I’m gonna…I’m gonna…" Before he could finish his sentence, I felt the warm, bitter fluid hit my mouth in 2 quick shots. I swallowed all of it and licked him clean.

I pushed myself up and laid next to his panting, sweaty body. I watched him with a smile as he regained his composure. He looked like a piece of well sculpted art that I couldn’t take my eyes off of.

“Wow!” he breathed heavily and smiled. “Thank you!”

“No, thank you. You should get punched in the face more often!” I rubbed his arm that was resting on his chest. He looked at the clock and gave me a quick kiss before getting up to retrieve his shorts .

“I better get dressed. If my family comes in and sees me in this state, they’re gonna shit themselves.”

“I think you’re rather attractive in your birthday suit, Joshua.” I flipped over onto my stomach and propped my head up in my hand, smiling and admiring the beautifully naked Josh Hutcherson standing in front of me.


	23. Chapter 23

I left Josh’s room just in time. I passed the rest of the Hutcherson family on my way back to my room.  _Oh, that’s not suspicious at all, a 28 year old woman coming out of your 21 year old son’s room with a huge smile on her face after he got his ass kicked._

"How’s he doing?" asked Kat when I got back.

“He’s a lot better now.” 

“What did you do Sarah?” she asked sternly.

“Nothing! I just took care of him! The boy was in pain, what?” I replied with an innocent smile.

“You are a dirty dirty whore! I’m sure you took care of him in more ways than one!” She raised an eyebrow at me.

“Kathlyn, the guy took a shot to the face for me, if that doesn’t deserve a little something, I don’t know what does!”

“This newly single Sarah is such a slut and I love it!”

“Haha, thanks Kat!”

Josh told me I’d need my bathing suit for where he was taking me, so I changed and packed up my backpack for the day. Kathlyn and I met the shuttle at 9:30 to take us to the boat that we’d be parasailing from. We were with a couple other families. The mother of one family was talking about the commotion at breakfast.

“I heard they found roofies in his suitcase!” I looked at Kathlyn and shook my head.   
  
The shuttle pulled up to a dock 10 minutes down the road. We all got on the small boat and within 15 minutes, Kathlyn and I were both up in the air, soaring above the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean.

We got back to the ship in a couple hours and after grabbing a quick bite to eat on board, it was time to meet Josh for the surprise he promised me. I hope it included some sort of sexual activity, because after the charades that took place in his room that morning, I will still really horny.

“Well, hello there, wife of mine!” Josh greeted me with a hug when I saw him outside the ship. 

“Hello, dear!” I replied with a smile. 

“Dear? Really? That’s the best you got?”

“Ok, uh, hello lovey muffin cakes. Better?”

“Yeah, that’s a little more believable.”

“What little adventure are we having today, Mr. Hutcherson?” I asked as he put his arm around my shoulder and pointed me in the direction of a white van.

“Remember yesterday, you said you’ve never seen dolphins up close before?”

_Holy shit, he was listening to me? There’s a first! A guy who listens!_

“Yes, why?” I asked cautiously, knowing his answer before he said it.

“Here’s your big chance!” 

“Get out! Get out of here right now! You can’t be serious! Seriously? No way!”

“No, I won’t get out of here and yes, I am serious, you’re doing this,” he chuckled and pushed me towards the van. 

“Josh! Oh my God!” I smacked his arm when I got in. “How the hell did you do this? We were going to do this but they were filled up when I called!”

“Don’t worry about it! I told you I know people!”

“Oh, right, right, right. I forgot I was with prince charming over here.” I rolled my eyes and buckled my seatbelt.

“Haha that’s right!” he laughed. 

We pulled away after a few more passengers got in. My leg began shaking in anticipation of getting to cross off something on my bucket list. Josh put his hand on my knee to stop it. 

“Sorry!” I smiled nervously.”I don’t realize when I do that!”

20 minutes later, the van pulled up to what they called the dolphin playground. It was a dolphin care/training facility where volunteers took care of sick wild dolphins. There were a few dolphins at the site that they let people interact with. After meeting with a couple trainers and volunteers and getting a tour of the facility, we got into wet suits and made our way into a pool of salt water. The trainer told us about the 3 dolphins at the site that day and explained how they rescued one of them recently.

The fishy smell of the water was just starting to make me gag when I noticed the huge grey shadows swimming in the same water. I just about pissed myself, I was so excited. The trainer told us not to freak out when the dolphins came, because it might scare them. I stopped myself from jumping up and down and just looked at Josh and smiled like a kid who just got told they’re going to Disney World for the first time. He patted my shoulder and smiled back.

The 5 of us each took turns giving commands to the dolphins, making them spin in circles and take jumps into the air. Then we got to feed them. I gave the command for one to open her mouth and when she did, I tossed the fish in. After feeding, the trainer each had us line up, taking turns to swim with the dolphins. When it was my turn, I excitedly took my place in the water and stood with my hands out in front of me like the instructor told me. Before I knew it, I felt two noses at my feet, pushing me up and sending me flying through the water.

“Oh my God that was amazing!” I swam back over to Josh and held his cheeks and gave him a kiss, I didn’t care if anyone saw. “Thank you!” I whispered. He brushed a few stray pieces of hair that fell out of my ponytail and laughed.

“You’re beautiful, Sarah.” This guy had swept me off my feet and was making me aware that he wasn’t the cocky bastard I claimed he was when I first met him.


	24. Chapter 24

Even though I was starting to like him a lot, I liked messing with him. I gave him an applause. “What a line! Good job!” 

“Thank you.” He smiled proudly. “ I have plenty more up my sleeve, Miss Stewart.”

“Let’s see if any of them will work.” 

He cleared his throat, the last couple people got ready to take turns getting pulled my the dolphins. “Are you Irish?”

“No, why?”  
  
He leaned in closer. “Oh that’s so weird! Because looking at you, my penis is Dublin.”

I smiled and shoved him so he lost his balance and went under water. I shook my head at him when he came back up. “You are so lame! Where did you hear that?”

He ran his hands through his wet hair and sank back down into the water. “That movie Hall Pass that came out a few years ago.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled, lowering myself into the water to meet his eye level. “Oh brother. Not even clever enough to come up with his own lines.”

“I don’t need to use lines on you, do I Sarah?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because,” He stretched his arms out and rested his hands on top of his head, “I already know you want me.”

“Whatever helps you sleep through the night, Josh.”

He waddled closer to me and took a handful of my left asscheek and whispered close to my ear. “Continuing this morning would help me sleep through the night.”

“Yeah, and where do you suppose that will be taking place?” I whispered back, remembering that we both had roommates on the ship. 

“I’ll find somewhere. Don’t you worry. If I don’t fuck you soon, I’m going to die.” His eyes scanned around the training facility.

“Oh we wouldn’t want that, would we?” I drew my index finger along his jawline and leaned in to kiss him, but was interrupted by the trainer telling us that they had lunch available for us and the other tour group that was there.   
  
I pulled myself out of the pool, smelling like fish water. I couldn’t eat with that smell on me. Luckily, they had a few shower stations for everyone to wash down in. I stripped out of my wetsuit and tossed it into a bin on the side of one of the shower stalls. I waited patiently for the person in front of me to finish rinsing off before going in and securing the latch of the door.   
  
I removed the hair tie holding my hair up and strung my fingers through my tangled strands. I turned the knob of the shower, letting the cool water hit my itchy, salty skin. I put my head under the running shower head, feeling a sense of relief when the water hit my scalp. I couldn’t help but notice two feet standing outside of the shower from under the partial wall.  
  
“Someone’s in here.” I hollered over the rushing sound of the shower.

“I don’t give a fuck!” he hollered back. As soon as I opened the door a crack to see who my intruder was, Josh pushed his way through, latching the door behind him and pushing me up against the opposite wall. My hands were suddenly pinned to the wood slats on either side of me with his own. “Josh!” I whispered, wide-eyed, before he stuck his tongue in my mouth.   
  
Water trickled in between our bodies which were now touching. He freed my hands to pull me even closer to him. He reached up and untied my bikini strings while giving my neck small kisses. My top was flung to the floor of the shower and he squeezed my boobs together, tonguing the crevice in between them and sucking on my nipples. I hurriedly fiddled with the drawstring on his shorts, sliding them down to his knees, and letting my new friend from that morning free. His cock was standing on end, poking its way between my thighs, aching to get inside of me.   
  
“Ugh I’m gonna fuck you so fucking hard,” he grunted in my ear.  _Oh please do!_ My mind told him.

I nibbled at his earlobe while his hands slid down my waist and tugged at the the strings holding my bottoms together.

“Feel how wet I am, Josh,” I cried out. He put two fingers inside me to feel my wetness and smiled, taking them out quickly. He knelt down and lifted my right leg up so that it was over his shoulder. I had no choice but to hold on to the wall for dear life as his tongue flicked my clit. His hands held me steady by my ass. He caressed my right cheek a few times before delivering a hard smack, stinging the skin.

“Ooooh!” I gasped. I felt him smile in between my legs while he devoured me. He licked his way back up to my neck and put my leg back down, allowing me to catch my balance. The water was turning colder by the second, so we moved over to where it wasn’t hitting us. He lowered his hips and positioned himself to enter me. “Are you ready?”   
  
“Oh yeah, baby! Do it! Hurry!” I begged, leaning up against the wall. He brought my right leg back up, holding it in his arm and with one quick motion, his cock slammed into me, pushing my body against the wall and making me cry out. He covered my mouth with his hand.

“Shhh!” For a moment, I forgot we were in a somewhat public place. He drove into me even harder, thrusting in and out, in and out, in and out, sending me over the edge. His eyes were fierce and locked on mine as he continued to pound into me. He broke his gaze and moaned into my neck as his legs began to tremble. His free hand thumbed at my clit, which started my wave of ecstasy.

“Oh Josh!” I moaned.   
  
“Be quiet!” he scolded with a whisper.  
   
“Ohhhh,” I whispered. “Don’t stop fucking me!” My hands grasped the wood behind me, almost giving my splinters. 

“Baby you feel so good, I’m not gonna stop til you come,” he said into my ear. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah! Oh God! I’m almost there!” I whispered, wrapping my arm around his neck to hold myself up.   
  
“Ohhhh. Oh yeah! Fuck, Sarah!” Feeling him shoot his load into me made my wave feel like a tsunami. I’m surprised I didn’t break his skin, I held onto him so tight. His thrusts slowed down as I rode out the end of my orgasm.

“Ahhh, yeah!” I breathed with a smile as he slowly pulled his dick out and lowered my leg. I had to bend over to catch my breath. Josh reached behind a smacked my ass once again before moving under the shower head to rinse off.


	25. Chapter 25

My left leg was shaking uncontrollably from holding myself up the whole time, not to mention the rest of my body was pretty sore from being pounded against the wooden walls of the shower. I pushed Josh out of the way and stood under the water to finish rinsing off. He wrapped his arms around my waist and our naked bodies were quickly reunited as he kissed me like it was the last time he was ever going to see me again. I was startled by a light tap at the door.

“Everything ok in there?” The man’s voice asked.

My eyes grew wide and I prayed he didn’t look at the floor to see 2 sets of feet and bathing suits.

“Uh, yeah! Just had trouble getting the shower on! Be right out!” Josh hollered back. I stood on my tiptoes and covered my mouth, hoping that would somehow make me invisible. It must have worked because the man said

“Oh, yeah that one’s tricky. There’s food inside if you’re hungry!”

“Ok, thanks!” Josh yelled back with a smile.  
  
We quickly put our bathing suits back on and nonchalantly joined the others who were inside eating lunch. We grabbed our food and sat by one of the trainers and listened to her talk about dolphin rescuing. Honestly, I was so tired, I just tuned her out. My plan was to take a nice long nap when I got back on the ship. Fucking Josh was exhausting.

When we got back into the van, Josh put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in close and whispered, “That was legit the hottest thing that ever happened to me!”

I rolled my eyes. “Please don’t ever use the word legit again. Kat uses it all the time and it drives me insane!”

“Fine. But seriously, that was fun, was it not?” He spoke up, shaking my shoulder. I nodded in agreement with a smile. We returned to the port and I was just about spent, sort of thankful this was our last stop and that I could do nothing but relax by the pool for the next couple days while we made the trip back to Miami. At the same time, I was also bummed because I really didn’t want this trip to end.

"Well, thank you for today, and yesterday. It’s all been wonderful." I gave him a small hug as we neared the elevators on the ship.

“Yeah, it has. Hey, you know we should keep talking after we get back!”

I smiled politely. Yes I was thoroughly enjoying getting physical with him, the boy made my head spin, and he was fun and made me laugh and we felt comfortable talking about anything. But I knew that what we were doing wouldn’t follow us home. Being 28 and going through something like this when I was 17, I knew where this was headed.

_SERGIO._

“We’ll see. Let’s just have fun these next couple days, ok?”

He sighed. “Fine.”

“I’ll tell you what.” I could sense his disappointment. 

“What?”

I thought for a minute, then answered. “Meet me on the basketball court a little after dinner. If you beat me at one on one, I’ll let you have me any way you want. Sound good?”

His lips curved up into a smile. “Oh it’s on. It’s on like Donkey Kong!”

I shook my head. “No. It won’t be on if you say that. It’s not 1995 anymore, Josh.” I started walking away. “I hope you’re ready to get the beatdown of the century! I’ll school you on the basketball court! No one messes with the Hutch!” He beat on his chest like a neanderthal. 

I turned around and laughed at him. “Oh lord, you’re like the lamest person I’ve ever met!” I continued walking towards the elevator and went up to the room.

Kat was nowhere to be found. I beeped her on the walkie talkie to tell her I was back in the room and was going to take a nap for a while. She said she’d be back in an hour or so. I changed out of my damp bikini and threw on a comfy pair of shorts and tank top. As my head hit the pillow, I was taken back to the summer before my senior year in high school.

_We walked around an outside deck on the ship on the 3rd night of the cruise. Nothing else in the world mattered to me at that point, only the fact that I was in his presence. I had wanted to get him alone from the second I saw him. He was confident and charming, not to mention gorgeous with his tan skin, jet black hair and huge brown eyes. We stopped towards the back of the ship to look out at the water. What happened next was like out of a scene from a cheesy romantic movie. We looked up at each other, then both turned back towards the water, I glanced back at him, nervously, and let out a chuckle._

_“What?” He asked._

_“Nothing. This is really awkward.” I smiled._

_He inched closer to me and brought his hand to my cheek and said, “Well why don’t I break the ice.” And just like that, our lips met. Now, I had kissed guys before, but never came close to seeing sparks. I mean real sparks. They say you see fireworks when you kiss someone special and I finally knew what that meant._

“Man, I was such a stupid fucking teenager,” I laughed to myself, reliving the moment that I thought I had fallen for the one guy whose name still haunts me to this day.  _Sergio._


	26. Chapter 26

Next thing I knew, Kathlyn slid her key into the door and woke me up. It’s amazing how the slightest sound can wake me up. I blinked a few times, before regaining consciousness.

“Hey, what time is it?” I asked looking around, noticing that the ship was moving. 

“5:30. I came in a couple hours ago, but you were zonked out, so I changed and met the girls down on the promenade. “Sleep good?” she asked putting her bag down.

“Mhm,” I replied rubbing my eyes.

“So….tell me! How were the dolphins?” She sat down on the edge of the bed at my feet, patting my leg.

I smiled remembering everything from earlier. “They were good!” I replied not as excited as I should have been. 

“Just good?”

“Yeah. They were really cool,” I shrugged and got off the bed. 

“Wait. You’re not telling me something. You should be like ‘OMG Kat! I got to swim with dolphins! It was life altering!’ not just ‘Eh, they were cool.’ What’s going on?”

“Nothing! I’m just tired!” I said with a smile and went to the closet to pull out a pair of dressy capris for dinner. “Josh kind of wore me out,” I blurted and raised my eyebrows at Kathlyn. 

She tilted her head to the side. “You didn’t.”   
  
“I did,” I replied trying to keep a straight face but I could do nothing but smile. 

“Get out of here!” She smacked her knee. “I hate you! How was it?” 

“Unbelievable.” I shook my head and let out a sigh. “Only thing is, he wants to keep talking after the cruise is over.”

“Oh…” Her eyes hit the floor. “Another Sergio?” 

“Yeah. It’s probably not a good idea,” I sighed as I took a shirt out of the closet.

“But this could be different, you didn’t know what you were doing back then.”

“I don’t want to think about it. I’ll just keep having fun with Josh while we’re here and when we leave, that will be the end it.”  
  
 _“I luv u.” I looked at the text message a million times and couldn’t stop smiling. A couple months had passed since I said goodbye to Sergio. We exchanged screen names and talked almost every day._

 _“I do too.” I wrote back. This was the first time any guy other than family told me that he loved me and I really believed him. Halfway into my senior year of high school, I couldn’t stand being away from him. He lived a good 6 hours away and I had to see him again. I IMed him one night and we devised a plan to meet halfway in Chicago._  
  
 _I told my parents I was going with Kathlyn to this concert in Chicago, packed my bag and hit the road. The nervous/excited lump in my throat went away when I saw him again for the first time. We spent the weekend sightseeing, holding hands and enjoying each other’s company again. The second night we spent together was the night I fully gave myself to him. I was afraid because it was my first time, but we were ‘in love’ and I didn’t care._  
  
After dinner, I changed into my gym clothes and headed up to the basketball court to meet Josh. He wasn’t there yet, so I grabbed a ball and took a few horrible practice shots. I was never good at basketball, so I don’t know what possessed me to tell him that if he beat me he could have me. Maybe it was his penis. Yeah, that’s it.  
  
I put my hair into pigtail braids and adjusted my sports bra so that my boobs were extra perky and rolled my shorts up a couple times. I figured if I looked sexy maybe it would distract him and I’d be able to beat him. I dribbled the ball a few times and made a sad attempt at a layup, but my hand-eye coordination made me look like a fool.   
  
“Should we just skip the game? Because that was pretty pathetic,” Josh laughed and walked onto the court, nodding to the people playing on the other side. 

“Well, I had really amazing sex earlier with this random hot guy so excuse me if I’m still a little out of it!” I said loudly, catching the attention of the people on the other end of the court. Josh put his hand over his heart and shook his head at the sky, mentally thanking some higher power for my response.  
  
“Just give me the ball.” He held out his hand and I chucked the ball into his chest. After he took a couple practice shots, our game started. While we were playing, I tried pulling out the stops to distract Josh from making baskets - bending down really slow with my legs open when I had to pick up the ball, pulling my tank top down so my cleavage hung out, rubbing my water bottle along my neck - but nothing seemed to work.

“Good game!” He gave me a high five and ass slap after he beat me 8 to 25.

“Yeah, yeah.” I rolled my eyes and took a sip of water. 

“Come with me.” He took my hand, leading me off the court. I had to live up to my end of our deal.


	27. Chapter 27

He held my hand until we got to the elevators, still not wanting to cause an uproar over the fact that he was spending a ton of time with a somewhat older woman. “Where are you taking me?” I asked when he pushed the button for my floor. When the elevator stopped, he held the door open for me and I stepped off, but he didn’t follow me.  
  
"You’re not coming?" I asked as he still held the door open.

"Go put that pink and turquoise bikini on and meet me in the Solarium in 10 minutes." The door started to close but I pushed the button quickly so it stayed open.

"Wait, how’d you know I had a pink and turquoise bikini?"

"Because you were wearing it the first time I saw you. Now go!" He shooed me away.  
  
I didn’t even think he saw me that day because he had so many girls surrounding him. I hurried to my room and tore through the dresser and found the bikini he requested. I threw a pair of shorts and tank top over it and made my way to the solarium. It was a quiet, adults only section of the ship with pools, lounge chairs and hot tubs where people could just sit back and enjoy the views of the ocean. I opened the doors to find it was fairly empty. It was close to 10pm, so I figured most people were taking part in night time ship activities.   
  
I must have taken longer than 10 minutes to change because Josh was already at the bar with 2 drinks ordered. I took a seat at the stool next to him. “It’s about time,” he muttered. 

“Sorry, Mr. Impatient.” I rolled my eyes and crossed my legs.

“Here, I got extra pineapple just for you.” He slid me a perfect looking pina colada. 

“Thanks,” I responded and took a sip. “And thanks for remembering to get extra pineapple.”

“Yeah, you said it’s your favorite, right?” 

“Yeah," I smiled, taking another sip. “I’m surprised you remembered I told you that.”

“I remember everything about you. I like you, Sarah.” He smiled and took a sip of his beer. 

“Yeah, you’re not too bad either,” I sighed.   
  
After finishing our drinks, we decided to take a dip in the pool. We dropped our stuff on a nearby chair and I shimmied out my my shorts and tank top.   
"Ahhh there it is. I love the way that looks on you." Josh gave me a kiss and put his hands on my hips.

"Josh!" I pushed him off, hoping no one saw the PDA.

"What? Like they’re going to say anything?" He nodded over to the few people in one of the hot tubs, put his arm around my shoulder and whispered, "But I wish they would leave so I can have you all alone.”

“Yeah, if we were alone right now, what would you do to me?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure they’ll leave eventually.” He smiled and took his shirt off. I know we already fooled around twice that day, but I couldn’t help myself whenever I saw that chest of his. I looked around the room and noticed another hot tub on the other side.

“You know what, I don’t really want to go in the pool anymore. Let’s go in there instead.” I motioned towards the empty hot tub that was in a corner near the window.  
  
I stuck my toe in the bubbling water to feel the temperature before sliding in.

“How is it?” Josh asked.

“Nice!” I sat in front of one of the jets, letting it massage my back. "Mmmm that feels so good!" I exclaimed as the muscles in my back loosened up.

Josh slid into the tub and pulled me close to him. He immediately dove into the weak spot on my neck, making me even more wet than I already was. I breathed heavily, fisting the hair on the back of his head.   
  
"Ohh you make me crazy," I whispered in his ear. He pulled me in even closer, allowing me to wrap my legs around his waist. He kissed me like he did earlier after we had sex. It was full of passion and determination. I grinded my hips into his, feeling his hard cock rub between my legs. Here I was, after already having sex once that day, getting off, and he wasn’t even inside yet. 

"I want to feel you inside me," I murmured, causing him to remove his grip on my waist. He put his hand in between my legs and began fingering the outside of my bikini bottoms. He pushed the fabric away and stuck two fingers into me. As he started picking up the pace with the thrusts of his fingers, the jets in the hot tub shut off abruptly, causing me to gasp.  
  
"Fuck!" Josh slapped his forehead when he saw the sign that read: 15 MINUTE TIME LIMIT. We certainly couldn’t screw around in a tub of water that anyone would be able see under. He jumped out of the hot tub and pressed the button on the wall for the jets, but it didn’t work. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He was flustered and ran his hands through his hair, looking around for a place we could go. He smiled when he spotted the men’s room.

"Come on!" He pulled me out of the tub and practically dragged me to the bathroom.

"What if someone comes in?" I asked.

"Don’t worry, no ones gonna go in there this late, besides, this won’t take very long."  
  
We snuck in quietly, checking under stalls for signs of anyone. When we were sure that the coast was clear, Josh picked me in his arms and carried me to the sink. He furiously pulled my wet bathing suit bottoms down and let his shorts fall down to his ankles. I let out a gasp, followed by a soft moan when he pounded his dick into me with a vengeance. I held onto his hips as our bodies collided into one another. Every thrust was harder than the last.   
  
The mirror on the opposite wall gave me a perfect view of his ass that tightened up every time he pounded into me. He was hunched over, revealing his sculpted back muscles. Our eyes met when he looked at my reflection in the mirror behind the sink. He had fire in his eyes and he was determined to get the job done.   
  
I reached my hand underneath him and massaged his balls between my fingers and he sunk his teeth into my shoulder and let out a deep groan. “Ughhh fuck that feels good!” 

“Oh God Joshua!” I cried out when my wave hit me. 

"I love watching you come baby!” His cock twitched a few times inside of me as he released his load, filling me up with enough Hutchersperm to last me a while. He slid out and hunched over me, letting out a deep breath.   
“Wooh! I’m exhausted now!” he panted. 

“So am I. You really wear me out, you know that?” I rubbed the back of his head and kissed his shoulder. He stood up and gave me a peck on the lips before bending down to pull up his shorts. 

“I really wish this didn’t have to end in a couple days. I like you a lot.” He held my face in his hands and kissed me again, giving me a lump in the throat.


	28. Chapter 28

Kathlyn whipped open the curtain in the room the next morning, startling me out of my sleep.

“Rise and shine! Time to go work out!” she cheered.

“Ugh, no fucking way. I need to sleep,” I grumbled.

“You said you wanted to hit the gym this morning and it’s almost 10, you’re going to miss breakfast!”  
  
“Well I changed my mind, go without me. I’ll eat later,” I replied, turning over onto my stomach and burying my face into the pillows. When I turned over, I could feel the soreness in the muscles in my legs. Josh really did a number on me the day before. All I wanted to do was sleep and lay by the pool all day.  
  
“Fine miss cranky. I’ll be back in a little while,” she said, closing the door behind her. I drifted back off to sleep but was rudely awakened 10 minutes later by the familiar beep of the walkie talkie.  _Note to self, chuck that thing off the side of the ship when you get a chance._  
  
“Sarah? Are you up?” Josh’s voice sounded desperate through the speaker.

“I am now thanks to you.”

“Sorry. Can I come see you?”

“Really, Josh? Three times yesterday wasn’t enough for you? You’re already coming back for round 4?”

“No, no, it’s not like that,” he laughed.

"Then what do you want?" 

"I was thinking about you and I want to see you, please?"

"Ugh, ok fine. Don’t mind my appearance though."  
  
He knocked on the door a few minutes later and I shuffled across the room to open it.

"Good morning!" He greeted me with a smile.

"Hey, come in." I held the door open so he could walk in.

“Second to last day on the ship and I’m just now seeing your room. What’s with that?"

“I don’t know, Josh,” I sighed as I walked to the balcony.

"What, don’t I get a kiss?" he asked, following me.

"No, you don’t because I’m mad at you," I answered, taking a seat on one of the balcony chairs.

"Why? What did I do?" 

I couldn’t look at him in fear of wanting him again and having my way with him right there on the balcony.

“I can barely walk this morning, Joshua.”

“Oh,” he chuckled. “Sorry.”

“You’re not sorry yet.” I winked.  
  
“So, what’s the plan for after we get back to Miami?” he asked, folding his hands behind his head.

I really didn’t want to talk about this. “There is no plan, Josh.”

“But what if I want to see you again? Can’t I come visit you or fly you out to LA or something?”

“That’s not such a good idea. We barely know each other.” I got up and hovered over the railing, looking down at the water.

“So we’ll get to know each other!” Josh stood up next to me.

“Look, Josh. I like you and I’m having fun right now, but I’ve been through this before and it was a mistake.”  
  
 _“Are you ok?” Sergio asked, getting off the bed and slipping on his boxers. I was quiet after he finished. I really wasn’t sure what to say. I felt so different now that I was a ‘woman’._

_“Yeah, I’m fine. I just didn’t expect it to hurt so much,” I giggled, pulling the sheet over my body._

_“Well, it was your first time. It won’t hurt as much next time, and eventually you’ll learn to love it.” Sergio smiled and gave me a kiss on the forehead before he put his pants on._

_“I love you,” I blurted with a grin. When he didn’t respond, I said it again. “Sergio? I said I love you.”_

_He shook his head and sat on the foot of the bed, putting his shoes back on. “Don’t say that, Sarah.”_

_“Wait, why not? I’m telling you how I feel.” I climbed over to the end of the bed where he was sitting and put my arms around his neck and kissed his earlobe. I jumped back when he shrugged me off. I didn’t understand why he was being so distant all of a sudden after I completely gave myself to him. “What’s the matter?” I asked._

_He stood up off the bed and fetched his shirt that was resting on the back of a chair._   _“You don’t know what love is, Sarah. You’re too young!”_

_“I’m almost 18 years old, Sergio. I’m old enough to know what I’m feeling right now! And I do love you!”_

_“Ugh, just stop saying that! I don’t want to hear it, alright?” He was shouting at me now and I was stunned at the way he was acting._

_“But you told me you loved me, I still have the text message.” I got up from the bed to retrieve my phone from my bag and scrolled through to the text message that I had held onto and showed him. “See.You told me, right after the cruise.”_

_“I don’t know what I was thinking when I sent that.” He pushed the phone out of his face and walked to the dresser to get his wallet. Tears started welling up in my eyes._

_“So you don’t love me then? But, but I just, I just….”_

_“No, Sarah. I don’t love you. I don’t even know you, ok?”_

_"Then why did you just sleep with me?”_

_“Look at you! You’re gorgeous, I couldn’t help myself. I just didn’t think you were gonna go all psycho on me after.”_

_I sat on the bed, still naked, crying my eyes out at what he was saying. I felt like a tramp. He didn’t even come over to console me._

_“Look, I gotta get out of here. Don’t take it personally, I just can’t be in a relationship right now.”_

_“Good, fine, get out. Just get the fuck out of here you fucking asshole! You ruined me!” I screamed, throwing the TV remote at the hotel room door after he closed it behind him._  
  
“Oh, so I’m a mistake now?” His facial expression hardened.

“No, I never said you are a mistake, but you and I both know that whatever this is,” I motioned to the space between us, “will be over the day after tomorrow.”

“So what are you saying, Sarah? You don’t want to see me at all? Why not wait until we get to Miami, let’s just end this right now,” he hissed, flying his hands up into the air.  
  
“That’s fine with me if you’re going to be an asshole, you can get the fuck out of my room!” I pointed to the door.

“Great, so this is it, huh? You know, you need to stop denying the fact that you have feelings for me. I know it’s more than just sex to you. At least, it is for me.” 

“Just get out!” I stomped my foot on the ground and glared at him. I was furious. I didn’t care if I ever saw him again. He stormed off the balcony and slammed the door to the stateroom when he left.


	29. Chapter 29

I sank down on the foot of the bed and cried for the first time in about a year as all the memories about Sergio I thought I had erased from my memory came crawling back to haunt me. I wasn’t going to let Josh break me down and make me cave in. I was stronger than that. All I wanted was to have a little fun, because that’s what you do when you’re newly single. I was in no position to get involved with a normal person let alone a famous, much younger heartthrob like Josh.

I changed into one of my bathing suits and left Kathlyn a note saying I was grabbing a quick bite to eat at one of the cafes on board and for her to meet me on the pool deck. I was determined to finish my book and do nothing but relax for the day. I wasn’t even going to speak Josh’s name. Kathlyn found me around noon as I was nose deep in the end of Christian and Anastasia’s twisted love affair.

“Hey, how’s the book?” she asked, laying out her towel on the chair next to me.

“Not bad, I’m almost finished. How was the gym?”

“Good. When I was walking out, I ran into Josh. He looked pissed about something. He didn’t even acknowledge me when I said hi to him.”

“Yeah he’s a fucking douchebag. I’m done playing his games.”  
  
Kathlyn proceeded to grill me about why I suddenly had a change of heart about Josh and, of course, I told her why I didn’t want anything to do with him.

“Why don’t you grow a pair and give the boy a chance, he obviously likes you,  Sarah.”

“No! You’re both crazy for thinking I could maintain a steady relationship with a fucking 21 year old actor who has girls throwing themselves at him left and right. I’ll pass.” I rolled my eyes and went back to my book.

We met a couple pretty cute guys by the pool bar and hung out with them for the rest of the afternoon. Alex and Rob, brothers from Syracuse who needed to get away from the snow for a week. I couldn’t blame them. We ate lunch then wandered around the ship with them and they convinced us to try FlowRider. I managed to stay up longer than my first time, but eventually I fell on my ass again. And it hurt as much as it did before.

Alex high fived me as I got out of the water. “That was pretty epic, Michigan, I gotta hand it to you.”

“Thanks, that was fun,” I replied, trying to catch my breath and rubbing my backside.

“Your ass ok?” he asked, looking at it.

“I think so,” I nodded.

“Oh thank god, but if you needed someone to rub it, I’d volunteer,” he joked.

“Nice try, Romeo, but I have my own hands.”  _His hands held me steady by my ass and caressed my right cheek a few times before delivering a hard smack, stinging the skin._  I smiled and had to fan myself as I remembered what Josh did to me in that shower.

Alex stood behind me as we waited for Rob and Kathlyn to take their turns. He towered over me at around 6’2 and had a really nice, athletic build. Josh stood only a couple inches above me, so it was weird standing next to someone so tall. Kathlyn took her position in the water and Alex and I stood off to the side to watch. His arm draped around my shoulders as we cheered her on.

“Stay up! Bend your knees, there you go!” he shouted at her with his arm still around me. I heard a few girls who were in line start to make a commotion, which could only mean one thing. Josh was coming. He and Connor took their positions at the back of the line. I waved when Connor nodded at me, then glared at Josh when he looked to see who his brother was gesturing at.

“Hey isn’t that the Hunger Games dude?” Alex nodded over to him.

“Guess so,” I shrugged.

I started clapping for Kat who had just landed in the water and Alex followed suit. After Rob took his turn, I was ready to get out of there. I didn’t want to be anywhere near Josh or any of the little maggots that were surrounding him, but the guys insisted we stay and watch him because they heard he was good, and I guess they were pretty starstruck.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the 15 year olds and Alex and Rob who were cheering him on the whole time. After he got out and thanked everyone for clapping for him in his typical arrogant way, Rob called him over to us to shake his hand and tell him how awesome he was.

“Sarah, this is Josh Hutcherson. He’s in movies!” exclaimed Rob when he brought Josh over to Kathlyn and I.

“So I’ve heard.” I gave Josh a fake smile. “I gotta get out of here.” I stormed off and spent the rest of the day at the pool, hoping no one would bother me. Of course, he found me. I hated that he always knew where I was. I could never get away from him no matter how hard I tried.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked, pointing to the empty chair next to me.”

"It’s a free country,” I replied, flipping through my magazine.

”Will you talk to me?” he begged, putting his hand over the page I was reading.

”There’s nothing to talk about Josh,” I sighed and closed the magazine and left.


	30. Chapter 30

After dinner that night, Kathlyn and I met up with Alex and Rob again. I profusely apologized for running away earlier and they agreed to go to one of the nightclubs on board with us. We got our first drinks and hit the dance floor.   
  
By the time I finished my 5th drink, I was good to go for the night and I would have danced with anything that had 2 legs. The DJ slowed it down for a couple songs and I took that moment to take a break. Alex and I sat down at a table and ordered a couple waters to cool down and hung out for a while. Then the song Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’ by Journey came on and since Journey was pretty much my favorite, I had to dance to it.   
  
“Ooh I love this song!” I jumped in my seat. 

“Let’s go dance.” Alex smiled and held his hand out, but I was distracted by a figure wearing dark jeans and a black v-neck standing in the doorway.  _Of course he has to look gorgeous when I’m trying to be mad at him. Bastard._  
  
“Um, what?” I looked back at Alex who was now standing up, pointing to the dancefloor. 

“I said let’s go dance.” He chuckled at the baffled look on my face. I looked back at Josh who was scanning the room and froze when he his eyes locked on mine. When he saw that Alex was waiting for me, he shook his head and walked to the bar. 

“Sarah? Are you coming?” asked Alex.

“Oh, uh yeah. Sorry.” I smiled and followed him to the middle of the floor. I caught a glimpse of Josh every so often through the crowd. He had his back to the floor and was watching some kind of sporting event on the TV behind the bar.   
  
We broke away when the DJ started playing Peter Frampton’s version of Baby I Love Your Way and started walking back to the table with Rob and Kathlyn. I veered off to the side when I saw Josh walking straight toward me. I couldn’t avoid him though. He pulled me by the arm and led me to the back of the dance floor, away from the table I was walking to.  
  
“Dance with me,” He whispered as he took my hands and wrapped them around his neck. 

“Josh - I don’t want to…” I started to pull away from him but he held me so tight that all I could do was sway to the music.

“Listen to me Sarah. Are you listening?” he asked as he studied my face, forcing me to look him in the eye, no matter how hard I tried not to.  

“What, Josh? What do you want from me? I told you this is over,” I argued, trying to stay strong in his arms and avoid his eyes.

“No it’s not. You can’t look me in the eye and tell me that whatever we did these past few days meant nothing to you.” I still didn’t look at him.  _Don’t fall, Sarah. You’re doing good. You have 1 more day left and you don’t have to think about him ever again._  “Why won’t you just talk to me?” He removed his hands from around my waist and brought them to my cheeks so now I had to look at him. “What do I have to do to show you this isn’t a mistake that we’re making here? What are you afraid of?”  
  
“Josh, just stop! You’re being ridiculous right now.” I managed to wriggle my way out of his grip and ran out of the club. When I got outside, I heard him call my name but I didn’t turn around. I made it to the elevators and frantically pressed the button in hopes that pressing more times it would make it come faster. Josh was nowhere behind me so I knew the coast was clear. I took my room key out of my bag as fast as I could, shaking and on the verge of tears as I stuck the card into the slot on the door. I finally got the door open and was about to close it behind me, but out of nowhere, Josh stopped it with his hand.  
  
“Ugh what are you like the fucking devil? How do you always manage to find me and show up when I least expect it?” I snapped. I was so frustrated with this guy I couldn’t take it any longer.

He stepped in behind me and let the door slam behind him. I stood there looking at this desperate man, boy, guy - whatever he is - standing in front of me with his hands shoved in his pockets and tried all I could not to smile at how adorable he was.

“What, Josh? I obviously don’t want to talk to you so what are you doing here? I hate how you do this to me you know you’re a….” I barked. He walked towards me and grabbed my shoulders, cutting me off.

“Stop fighting this, Sarah.” 

“But I don’t want thi….”

“Shhh. Yes you do.” He put his hand under my chin and kissed me. I turned sober the instant his lips touched mine. I didn’t say anything, I couldn’t. He left me speechless. I went with the flow and kissed him back and gripped the front of his muscle-hugging shirt.  
  
His kissing intensified as he walked me backwards toward the bed. I fell onto my back, not giving a shit if Kathlyn walked in right then. Josh hovered his body over mine and planted soft kisses along my neck and collarbone. His hands pushed their way up my shirt and my breathing spiked when I felt his fingers massage my nipples.   
  
He managed to get my jeans and panties off in record time. I laid there, naked under the sheets, while he stripped off his clothing, one by one. He pulled the shirt up over his head in one quick motion revealing his defined chest and stomach along with the pleasure trail of hair that pointed in the direction of his swelling cock.  
  
His eyes narrowed at mine as he climbed under the sheet to get to me. He softly kissed me a few more times before nudging my legs open with his knee. I almost forgot about the fact that I was mad at him, but all the anger I felt towards him before melted away as he slowly slipped inside of me. I let out a soft moan as he pushed his way deeper, hitting all the right spots on the way.   
  
Our bodies moved together in unison, but it wasn’t like the other times we had sex. It was different, well, for one, we were actually in a bed this time. But the way he looked me in the eye gave me butterflies. He let out a hiss as he thrust in and out of me. I clenched him by the ass cheeks, making him slow down and move his cock around in circles along my insides. He bent down to kiss my neck and whispered in my ear, “I want this, Sarah. I don’t care what you say or if you fight me. I need you.”


	31. Chapter 31

_Don’t fight him anymore. Don’t let this one go because of something that happened 11 years ago. You’re not in high school anymore Sarah. Josh can’t hurt you, he already proved himself. Let him in._

  
“JOSH! I’m coming!” I hollered at the top of my lungs as my wave of ecstasy this boy put upon my body came crashing down. I was an emotional wreck knowing that in the short amount of time knowing Josh, my life would never be the same again.

Josh arched his head back into the air and let out a deep groan while he hit his peak. I stared at him for a moment, taking in the way the sweat on his forehead looked in the light coming from the moon that reflected off the water outside. “Oh God Sarah! Fuck!” he shouted, as I felt him twitch inside me.

He collapsed on top of me after a few seconds and kissed my neck. I was almost ready for round 2 after feeling the warmth from his heaving breath against my skin. He moved up to my earlobe and nipped at the skin while his hand cradled the side of my face. “You’re beautiful. You know that?” he whispered. I didn’t say anything back, I just turned to face him and kissed his sweet lips.

“I take it you’re not mad at me anymore?” he asked as he pulled away.

“I was never mad at you. I was mad at myself a little I guess. I was  _afraid_  of you.”

“Sorry to scare you. It’s just - I fall for people easily because I always try to see the good in everyone. And I usually end up pouring my heart out too soon and freak them out a little.” He laid on his back and stared at the ceiling.

“I was like that once. But shit happened to me in highschool and now I can’t trust people very easily. I always think there’s some sort of catch.”  _Oh God, here it comes._

“What happened?” he asked, turning to face me and draping his arm around my waist.

“Sergio happened.”

“Sergio? Sounds like Rico Suave or something.”  
  
I chuckled at Josh’s attempt to make me laugh. “No, he was a nice guy, at first. I actually met him on my very first cruise and I thought I fell in love with him. After the cruise was over, we kept in touch and he told me he loved me, so of course, being a 17 year old girl, I believed him.” I took a deep breath, stopping the tears from  forming because I couldn’t let anyone see me cry. “Then he convinced me to meet him in Chicago and then he um…” My voice cracked.  
  
“What? You can tell me.” Josh looked at me, noticing I had tears in my eyes. 

“He made me think he really did love me and we slept together and it was my first time. And after it was over, I told him that I loved him and he just sort of did a 180 and bailed on me. I never heard from him again.”  
  
“Oh Sarah, I’m really sorry,” he uttered, trailing his finger along the skin on the side of my waist. I closed my eyes, letting a few tears fall.

“So now, every relationship I get into, I think will be doomed from the start, and I always hold back. And when you said you wanted to talk after we get off this ship, I got scared because all I could think of was that what if this is a repeat of Sergio.”

“I’m not Rico Suave or whatever. I know you probably still think I’m just another cocky, arrogant son of a bitch, but that’s not the case. I know I would never tell anyone I loved them unless I meant it, not just to get them in bed. And if you give me a little time, I can show you that you can trust me.”

On paper, Josh was someone I shouldn’t have trusted at all. He was a hot, young actor who had girls throwing themselves at him left and right, probably nailing half of the women he met in every city he traveled to. He had a way with words to make any girl he met fall in love with him at the drop of a hat. Just a flash of that half smile of his and any girl was golden.

But in reality, I trusted him with every part of me. He earned my trust the night he stopped Evan from basically attacking me. He showed me that I could trust people if I just gave them a chance. Even though we’d probably never be able to sustain any kind of romantic relationship living thousands of miles apart, he was someone I didn’t want to just forget about when the ship docked in Miami.

“I think I do trust you, as crazy as that sounds.”  
  
“Good, because I care about you and I wasn’t planning on going anywhere anytime soon.” He smiled and kissed the side of my head, making my head spin. We laid in bed for a while, holding each other and must have fallen asleep. Thankfully, we fell asleep with the sheets covering us. The lights in the room flicked on and I opened my eyes in horror to see Kathlyn’s jaw on the floor.  
  
“Oh…oh…oh my god! I’m….I’m sorry! I’ll go. I’ll go! Sorry!” she stammered and left the room as fast as possible.

“Josh? Josh wake up.” I shook him and saw him scrunch his eyebrows. “Josh, you have to get up.” I shook him again.  
  
“Mmmmm?” He slowly opened his eyes and pulled me down to him when he saw me.  
  
“No, you have to go. Kathlyn just walked in. You have to leave.” I sat up and collected his clothes off the floor before getting off the bed to put my underwear on and went to my suitcase to get my pajamas.  
  
“Alright.” He sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He slipped on his boxers and t-shirt and stared at me with a smile while I put my shorts on.  
  
“What?” I demanded.  
  
“You’re gonna make hard again.” He got up and put his jeans back on. I rolled my eyes.  
  
“Ok stud. We can take care of that tomorrow, but right now you have to go, I’m not kidding.” I pushed him to the door as soon as he slipped his flip flops on.

“Tease. You’re in trouble tomorrow. You better watch yourself,” he threatened, giving me a soft kiss on the lips before opening the door.   
  
Part of me wanted to pull him back in and tell Kathlyn to go sleep somewhere else that night. I wanted to run out of the room as soon as the door closed and pounce on him like a hungry cat going after a weak little mouse and have him right there in the hallway.


	32. Chapter 32

I straightened up the room, trying to make it look like Josh and I didn’t do what Kathlyn probably suspected we did, but it was no use, she saw us laying under the blankets. She’s no idiot. I opened up the balcony door and let the cool ocean air hit my face. There was a knock at the door a few minutes later. “Are you guys still screwing?” Kathlyn’s voice hollered through the crack. I giggled and opened up the door.

“No, it didn’t take that long,” I joked, causing Kathlyn to roll her eyes.

“Well, I thought you’d be on to round two, he is, after all 21 and has a pretty high libito, does he not?” she exclaimed, putting her purse on the dresser and kicking off her heels. “And wait a second, you hated him earlier! What happened?”  
  
“I guess he has a way with words,” I sighed with a smile.

“Ugh I’m so jealous of you. I was stuck with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum all night while you were in here fucking around with a hot young heartthrob. Can we trade places and I can have him tomorrow?”

“Hmmm, I’ll think about it,” I laughed.

“No but seriously, Sarah, look at your face.” She guided me to the mirror and I really couldn’t stop smiling, no matter how hard I tried. “That boy has you on cloud nine. Look at you! You have to see him after we leave! Promise me you will because I’ve never seen you like this about anyone.”

“I’m thinking about it. I’ll give him my number and see what happens,” I shrugged.

“Good, then you can introduce me to some of his hot celebrity friends, like Avan! Ugh He’s hot!”

“We’ll see what happens when we get home, jeeze! Don’t get your panties in a bunch, nothing’s set in stone!”  
  
  
A packet of paper being slid under the door the next morning jarred me from my slumber. I crawled out of bed and tiptoed across the room trying not to wake Kat to see what it was.  
  
It was from Royal Caribbean with instructions on what to do to on our last night of the cruise.  _Be sure to lock your luggage and place it outside of your stateroom before 10:00pm. Report to the Opal Theater on deck 3 promptly at 7:00am for instructions on departing the ship. Please ask any uniformed RCCL staff member if you need assistance. Thank you for sailing with Royal Caribbean. Its been a pleasure having you on board. Activities today are…_  
  
 _Ugh last day on board._  Tomorrow everyone has to say their goodbyes and go their separate ways. Including Josh and I. Just the thought of whatever this was between us ending and the fact that my chances of seeing him again in his busy schedule were slim to none, made my stomach twist.  
  
I didn’t go on this vacation with any intentions of falling for someone. I planned to maybe hook up with a couple guys and that was it, but Josh flipped my world upside down. In the short amount of time we’d known each other, he showed me that I could trust guys again and I decided I was ready to put myself out there. I was his for the taking if he wanted me.  
  
I stepped outside on the balcony and shut the door with the walkie talkie in hand. I didn’t care if it was only 8am and if he was probably still sleeping. I beeped him.

"Josh?"

I sat on a chair and propped my feet up on the railing, taking in the early morning sun. A few moments later, he beeped me back.

“Morning,” he said in a groggy voice.

“Sorry I woke you up.”

“It’s ok, what’s up?”

“I do want to see you again after we leave tomorrow, ok?”

“Really?” The tone of his voice perked right up.

“Yeah, I do. I’m willing to try this thing if you are.”

“Oh….yea…yeah absolutely!”

“But we have to do this slow because I’ve only known you a week and I’m not jumping into something after only a week, got it?”

“No pressure. We’ll talk or whatever and if we make plans to visit each other then great, I’ll get to nail you in a non-tropical location,” he laughed.

“Hey, hey, hey don’t get your hopes up loverboy. You think just because we won’t be on the ship or on a beach that I’ll sleep with you?” I shot.

“What, you can’t resist me Sarah. Don’t deny it.”

“Oh here we go,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “You want to try me?”

“Ok, let’s play a little game. If you can go the whole day without wanting to do something sexual to me, I’ll take you out for a nice dinner when you come visit me in LA.”  
  
 _Who says I’m going out to California?_  “Um, first of all, who says I’m the one visiting you? And second of all, who says YOU can go the whole day without wanting to do something sexual to ME? Do you not remember that I have moves up my sleeve that will leave you crying? You’ll call this whole thing off the second you see me. I’m digging my pink and turquoise bikini and tanning oil out right now.”  
  
“Game on sweetheart. Meet me by the pool deck later.”  
  
I nudged Kathlyn awake and asked her if she wanted to get breakfast. She changed while I started to pack up some of my stuff and we made our way to the buffet. She was excited to hear that I had planned to continue things with Josh after the ship docked and still egged me on to introduce her to Avan if I had the chance. Before we walked out of the dining room, I went to the fruit station and grabbed a banana and put it in my bag.  _Game definitely on Joshua._  
  
We laid out on a couple chairs with magazines we bought at the gift shop on board. Josh strolled onto the pool deck a little while later with a huge grin on his face when he saw me. He chose a chair across the pool from where Kat and I were sitting and stared at me while he stripped off his t-shirt, causing a few girls to crowd around him. He ran his hand along his chest then stretched his arms in the air, in an attempt to flex his muscles. I shook my head at him and looked back down at my magazine.   
  
When I looked back at him, he was laying on his back with his arms resting behind his head. He must have felt me staring at him because he lifted his head up. This was my moment to get him good. I pulled the banana out of my bag and peeled it slowly. Never taking my eyes off him, I put my lips around the end of the banana and held them there for a moment, triggering his mouth to gape open. When I was satisfied with his reaction, I bit down and leaned back in my chair and continued reading my magazine.   
  
It was starting to get really hot as the late morning sun crept higher in the sky and Kathlyn decided to jump in the pool. When Josh saw the opportune moment, he waved goodbye to the few 15 year olds who were drooling over him and strolled to my side of the pool.  
  
“Hey tease. Can you put some of this on my back?” He smiled, handing me a bottle of sunscreen.  
“No, I know what you’re trying to do. I bet some of the jailbait you were just with would jump at the chance to rub your back with sunblock.”  
“Oh come on,” he chuckled, “it’s either this now, or later you’ll have to rub aloe on my back because I’ll get sunburned.”   
“Fine. Give me that. Sit down.” I said taking the bottle from him. He sat in front of me on my chair and I squirted some sunblock on my hands and rubbed them onto the skin on his back. I took care to massage the muscles while I rubbed the lotion on, spending time on his neck and running my fingers through the hair on the back of his neck. He squirmed when I got to his shoulder blades.  
  
Something about the way he smelled with sunscreen on him and the way his hair was a little damp with sweat made me want him there in front of everyone on the pool deck.  
“How much longer do we have to play this little game of yours Josh?” I pled.  
“Wow, you’re weak. You give up already?” He smiled, turning his head over his shoulder to look at me.  
“Absolutely not.” I replied, smacking his shoulders and leaning back in my chair.   
“Do you want me to do you now?” He asked.  _Yes please!_  
“What?” I asked, looking out over the tops of my sunglasses.   
“Your back, pervert.” He said, holding up the sunscreen bottle.   
“Oh, sure.” I laughed and spun around, untying the string of my bathing suit top and holding my boobs in place. 

“Wow. You’re killing me.” He sighed and squirted some sunscreen directly onto my back, making me jump from the coldness. His hands glided over my back and shoulders and I felt the chair’s support shift as he got up to sit closer to me. I felt his hot breath hit the skin on the back of my neck, making every hair on my body stand on end. It was about 90 degrees outside but I might as well have been in Antarctica because he was giving me chills. “Do you want me now, Sarah?” He whispered into my ear, rubbing his thumb over my shoulders.  
“Fine, you win.” Just feeling his hands on me was enough to make me melt, so I caved in.  
“It’s ok, I was planning on taking you out to dinner anyway.” He whispered again and kissed my neck.


	33. Chapter 33

I threw my magazine down on the chair and stood up, grabbing Josh’s hand and pulled him up. I yelled to Kat that we’d be back shortly and she nodded that she got the hint. We booked it off the pool deck with our hands still linked together. Waiting for the elevator took an eternity and Josh wasn’t much help when he held me by my hips and started kissing my neck - right in front of a nice family of four too. I smacked him away when I saw that the mother was glaring at us.   
  
“You’re terrible,” I said to Josh when the elevator doors closed. 

“I can’t help myself. My need to touch you is like an addiction,” he murmured, shifting close to me and running his fingertips along the lining of my bathing suit bottoms.

“Glass elevator,” I warned, nodding to the people below us who were surely looking.

“You think I give a shit?” He backed me up into one side of the elevator and started furiously kissing me - all of me. My lips, neck, collarbone. His hands explored the sides of my waist, making me squirm at his soft touch. I giggled and tried to shake him off, but it only amused him and he kept touching me all over.   
  
“Do you enjoy having people watch you feel someone up in an elevator Joshua?”

“Mmmmhmm,” he breathed into my neck. The elevator dinged and announced that we had made it to his floor and it was like a signal that all systems were a go. He pulled me by the hand down the hallway, passing several housekeeping carts and trays of uneaten room service food. We watched as a housekeeper got something out of her cart then went back into the room she was cleaning.   
  
When the coast was clear, he pushed me up against the doorway and continued putting his hands all over my body. He begun to untie the string of my bathing suit top and pressed his hips into mine as he kissed “the spot” on my neck.  
  
He dropped a hand from my waist to fish out his room key and my hand rested on the door handle while he slid the key into the slot. When I heard the lock click, I pushed the door open and grabbed him by the drawstring of his shorts, pulling him into the room with me. The door barely shut behind us when he practically slammed me up against the wall.   
  
Everything about Josh was so spur-of-the-moment and unexpected. I never knew what roller coaster ride I’d be on next with him. Each move was different than the last, and it constantly left me on my toes, trying to figure out what he was going to do next. He was so rough, but gentle at the same time. He knew exactly what he was doing. Every time he glided his tongue against my skin, he made sure to hit the right spots.   
  
He crouched down until he was on his knees and kissed his way up the inside of my thighs, making my legs buckle and shake from under me. I was surely going to pass out if I didn’t find something to hold on to. His lips ghosted along the outside of my bathing suit bottoms, delivering hot puffs of air on the fabric, igniting a fire deep within me that that only he could put out.  
  
He didn’t have to do what he was doing, because just a few quick thrusts into me would have put me over the edge, but he had this need to satisfy me first. I closed my eyes, gasping for air as I let my head roll back on the wall behind me while Josh’s tongue delved into me and explored every inch of my aching sex. I could barely see straight it felt so good. He knew I was on the verge of exploding because my breathing was rapid at this point. He stopped and stood up, kissing me on the mouth, letting me taste myself on his tongue.  
  
I had enough of him teasing me. This was one of the last times we were going to get to spend alone, at least for a while, and I wanted to make it count. I pushed him off of me, and he was taken aback that he no longer had the upper hand. I dragged him by the arm and pushed him down onto the freshly made bed. He fumbled with the string on his shorts before pushing them all the way off. I threw my top on the floor next to the bed and climbed on top of him. Slowly kissing him and letting his hands wrap around me.   
  
I watched his beautiful hazel eyes turn to a deep green as I positioned my hips above him. I slid my body down, letting him fill me up. As I started grinding my hips against his, he let out a deep groan and clenched his jaw as he pressed his hips up into mine. Our bodies continued to collide into one another and I was so close to coming that just the slightest movement would send me over the edge into oblivion. His raspy voice called out my name like he needed me more than anything in the world. It was then that I knew I needed him too.  
  
As my wave came crashing down, and I watched him while he was so close to hitting his peak, I suddenly got so sad that this was going to be ending soon that all I could do was cry. He didn’t see the tears spilling out because he closed his eyes and threw his head back as he let go inside of me. He smiled, taking in deep breaths to steady his heart rate and opened his eyes when he heard me sniffling.  
  
“Oh no, what’s wrong?” His expression changed to a look of panic. 

“Nothing, I just, I just don’t want this to stop,” I cried, burying my face into my hands. 

“It’s not going to.” He sat up and pulled my hands from my face. “Hey, come here.” His arms wrapped around me as I let my tears fall down onto his bare shoulders. “We’re going to see each other, I promise. I just need to figure out my schedule, but when the timing is right, I’ll fly you out or I’ll come visit you or something, ok?”  
  
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry I never cry, I just hate that I have to go back home tomorrow and after meeting you and everything that we did, going back to the real world is going to suck.”  
  
“I know. I’ll be wishing I was right here for a long time.” I didn’t realize it until then that he was still inside of me and I started giggling when I looked down at the space in between us, making him laugh too. I slid off and laid down next to him, still pretty upset and scared to think about where this was going.  
  
“Hey, do you want to go walk around the ship for a little while? Then maybe later we can get dinner or something,” he suggested.   
“Are you asking me on a date?” 

“Maybe I am. You want to?”

“Yes.”  
  
  
We spent the rest of the day swimming, playing mini golf on board, trying the zip line that sends people soaring over several decks. We got a little frisky in one of the hot tubs but had to stop when people came in. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other all day. After an insane amount of promising to Kat that I’d take her out for dinner when we got home because I felt bad for bailing out on her again, I met Josh at one of the fine dining restaurants on board. He looked amazing with his slicked back hair, buttoned up shirt, dark jeans and tie.  
  
He was a gentleman the entire night - so unlike his cocky bastard self that I assumed he was in the beginning. After dinner, we sat in one of the bars on board for a while in a dark little corner until it was time to head back to our rooms to finish packing our luggage.   
  
“I’m gonna have to say goodbye to you here because I don’t think I’ll be able to in the morning,” he murmured, rubbing the space between his eyes with his thumb and index finger. When he looked up at me, I could see that his eyes were starting to water, but I didn’t say anything to acknowledge it.

“Yeah I know,” I sighed. I stepped close to him and let him put his arms around my waist. “You’re amazing, Josh. I can’t tell you enough how happy I feel when I’m around you. Thank you for everything,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck.  
  
“You’ll call me when you get home, right?” he asked, scratching the back of his neck. We exchanged numbers earlier in the day.

“Of course,” I smiled. 

“Ok then. Go get some sleep beautiful.” His voice cracked when he pulled away from me.

“I will. Don’t miss me too much.” I kissed him once more before opening my stateroom door.


	34. Chapter 34

“Hey Josh, it’s Sarah. I sent you a text when I landed but I wanted to call too. I just walked in my door and I wanted to tell you that I miss you and I can’t believe I’m home already. That all went by so fast and I can’t stop thinking about you and I hope you get home safely. Ok, call me later. Bye!”

I hung up, dropping my luggage on the floor in the living room and proceeded to sort through the mail left for me on my doorstep. I sunk down on my couch, not wanting to move. It felt like I was still on the ship and the world was rocking all around me. I guess being at sea for 10 days straight will cause a little bit of vertigo.   
  
I took a long hot shower, washing away the dirt and grime that I felt clung on to my body while I was traveling all day. I studied myself in the mirror in my bedroom with my towel wrapped around me and could see how much I had changed in just a short amount of time. I was happier than I had been in a long time and I had Josh to thank for it. It had just started to snow outside and I groaned thinking that just 24 hours prior, I was in the 85 degree sun, getting sunblock rubbed all over my back by Josh Hutcherson, right before he took me to his room and had his way with me.   
  
I got all my things unpacked and laundry done and settled back into my boring everyday life over the next couple days, delivering souvenirs to people that I bought them for, sharing photos and stories about what I did and saw on my trip (leaving out Josh completely). A few days passed and I was back in the groove at work and I still hadn’t heard from Josh.  
  
I began to worry about him, so I looked around on TMZ for shits and giggles and sure enough there were photos of a very tan Josh riding around on his motorcycle through the streets of Beverly Hills, looking fine as ever. I was glad he was ok, but my heart sunk when I thought about the fact that  _he_  was the one who got all excited about us seeing each other after the cruise, and now he was completely avoiding me.   
  
Weeks and weeks went by and after crying about it to Kathlyn on a few different occasions, I figured I was just another notch on Josh’s headboard and that was the end of it.

“Great, I fucked a hot young actor a few times. I knew it could never be anything more than what it was. What the hell was I thinking?” I asked Kathlyn. 

“Maybe he’s just scared and doesn’t know what to think of this whole thing. Just give him some time. He’s only 21 Sarah. You have to let him figure out his feelings.”

“No. It’s been over a month. If he’s not calling now, he never will. This will just be an interesting story I’ll be able to tell people a few years from now.”   
  
******  
 **4 months later:**  
  
I walked back into my office building from what I guess you could call a lunch date with this new guy I had been seeing for the last couple weeks and my receptionist stopped me on my way back to my desk. 

“Sarah, there’s someone waiting for you in your office. I told him he needed an appointment but he insisted it was urgent.”

“Uh, ok Donna, thanks.” I braced myself hoping it wasn’t an irate client of mine. I took a deep breath and turned the knob on my door, slowly opening it. 

“What are you doing here?” I gasped, seeing Josh spinning around in my desk chair. 

“You know there are a ton of Sarah Stewarts in the greater Grand Rapids area? It took me forever to find where you work,” he stated, looking up from some papers on my desk.  
  
“Forever as in almost 5 months?” I muttered, dropping my purse on a chair. “You could have called, Josh.”

“I figured you wouldn’t accept my apology over the phone. I know I have a lot of explaining to do.”

“You don’t need to explain anything to me.” My face was burning up. “You made it perfectly clear that what happened between us was nothing more than just a…”

“Don’t you dare say that it was just a fling Sarah.” He voice began to rise. “I have reasons for not calling you.”

“Well let’s hear it. I have all day.” I sat down in the chair across from where he was sitting and folded my arms, waiting for his response.

“First of all, my mom was irate when she found out about us.”

“You told her?” I blurted.  
“Not everything, but I told her how I felt about you. She said it was absolutely absurd for me to want to, uh date someone 7 years older than me who I’ve only know a little over a week. And we got into this huge fight and it took a lot of convincing on my part to get her to see my side. She finally caved in and now accepts all of this.”

“So you avoid me for 4 months because of your mom?”   
  
“That and I had to think about it rationally if I really did want this.” I was taken aback at his response, but glad he was taking the time to actually think about it before he did anything stupid. “And I do want this still. I want to take you places and show you off as my girlfriend, then take you back home and have my way with you in every room of the house until you beg me to stop.” I cracked a smile at the sight of his cheeks turning red. “And I love it when you have little ways of driving me insane until I can’t take it anymore. Like right now, you’re biting your bottom lip and all I want to do is rip off your clothes and fuck you right here on this desk.”

  
“Wow you’re so romantic.” His words hit me hard, again.   
  
 _“Now.” He cleared his throat and whispered, “Do you honestly think I don’t know how to please an older woman?” He inched even closer to my ear. “Sarah?”_

_That was the blow that made me fall. I couldn’t hold it in, I let the smile escape my lips. He smiled when he saw the look on my face. That smug, cocky smile that I hated so much._

_“You’re proud of yourself right now, aren’t you, Hutcherson?”_

_“Possibly.” And with that, he turned around, sticking his hand in his pocket and walked out of the bar. Un-fucking-believable!_  
  
“Sorry, I’m nervous. Bear with me.” He fidgeted in my chair, making me laugh again. “And I won’t tell you that I love you then walk out on you, I promise. I’ll take care of you Sarah.”

“We’ll never see each other. You live in California.” I snapped back to reality, realizing the distance that will always be between us. 

“Oh, no I don’t actually, well I do, but I sort of left out a little detail.” He said digging in his pocket and pulling out his keys. 

“What’s that?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“I bought a house in Chicago.” I cupped my hands over my mouth, smiling widely. 

“Josh are you insane? You can’t just go and buy a house without knowing if I actually wanted to date you!”

“Yes I can, because I knew you wanted to date me from the second you saw me.” He smiled and got up to meet me on my side of the desk. 

“I didn’t actually say I wanted to, you cocky bastard.” I stood up, hitting his chest. 

He sighed and wrapped his arms around my waist. “I know, you don’t have to say anything. Just kiss me.”

“Ugh, I hate you so much.” I teased before crashing my lips onto his, fisting my hands through his short brown locks, savoring the way his mouth tasted against mine.


	35. Epilogue part 1

“Do you have your bathing suit?”

“Bathing suit. Check.”

“Sunblock? Sandals? Formal dress? Dramamine? Um...your bracelet, you have that right?” Kathlyn asked over the phone.  
  
I rubbed the a few of the charms that were hanging around my wrist that Josh gave me almost a year ago on our one year anniversary. “Of course, I never take it off.”  
  
When he gave it to me, we were at his parent’s house in Kentucky. He slipped it around my wrist one night when I was asleep and when I woke up the next morning, there was a note on his pillow that said:  
  
 _Sarah,_  
  
 _Everything on the bracelet around your wrist reminds me of you. I hope you’ll always wear it and think of me whenever I’m away. Also, here’s some sappy romantic quote from Shakespeare, because I guess I’m supposed to be romantic on our 1 year anniversary._  
  
 _My bounty is as boundless as the sea,_  
 _My love as deep; the more I give to thee,_  
 _The more I have, for both are infinite._  
  
 _Connor, being the smart guy he is, helped me find that and I interpreted it as meaning that what I have to give you is as endless as the sea, my love is just as deep, the more love I give to you, the more I have, because both my love and what I have to give you is endless._  
  
 _Sorry if this is corny. What I’m trying to say is that I love you Sarah. And this past year has been the best one of my life. Thank you for being my anchor._  
  
 _Love,_  
  
 _Josh_  
 _(your sexually deprived boyfriend who thinks it sucks that you still live 3 hours away from Chicago and wishes you would just move to LA with me)_  
  
  
Being the ever so wonderful girlfriend that I am, I did just that. 6 months ago I took the plunge and moved out to LA, in my own place of course and got hooked up with a job similar to my old one. Josh was beside himself when I told him I was finally moving out there. He wasn’t too fond of having a place in Chicago. He hardly stayed at his house because whenever he was in town, he’d be at my house.  
  
I fit in great right away with Josh’s close group of friends and Andre and I quickly became best girlfriends. I turned to him a lot whenever Josh had to be out of town for weeks at a time. And whenever Josh was gone, he let me watch Driver, so it was like having part of Josh with me the whole time. I was only able to go on the road with Josh once because I worked so much. I went with him to a movie premiere in New York City for a week and let’s just say that the men’s bathroom on the top of the Empire State Building will never be the same again.   
  
  
Now that our 2 year anniversary was coming up, hard to believe, and being that Josh always felt the need to out-do himself, he decided to re-live the first time we met and take me on another cruise. He thankfully asked me about if far enough in advance so I could get the 10 days off from work and didn’t surprise me like he tends to do when it comes to gift giving.   
  
Kathlyn talked me through my packing ritual over the phone to make sure I remembered everything and Andre, Josh and Driver showed up at my door later that night. We were taking the red eye from LA to Miami in order to get on the ship on time. We hugged Andre and Driver goodbye outside LAX before checking in and making our way through security.  
  
“Only one mob scene this time. That’s a record baby!” I laughed, taking Josh’s hand as we walked to our gate. Whenever we went somewhere, it never failed, we’d always have a mob of fans or paparazzi following us. At first, it was way too much to handle for me, but Josh and Andre talked me through it and convinced me that once our relationship was out in the open, people would stop asking so many questions.   
  
We grabbed a bite to eat at a sandwich shop that was still open right outside of our gate and soon after, we were well on our way to Miami. The plane was quiet - most people were either sleeping or working on their ipads and laptops. Josh got a devilish look in his eye and looked around the cabin before putting his hand under the blanket covering me and rested it on my thigh.   
  
I gave him a ‘don’t you dare’ look and his hand inched farther up my leg. I obviously provoked him. “Joshua Ryan!” I whispered, with his smirk growing even wider as he leaned over the armrest and started kissing my neck. His fingers danced over the fabric of my jeans in between my legs, triggering the same tingly sensation I get whenever he touches me.   
  
“No. Joshua!” I pushed him off. I would have let him keep going but an old woman kept staring at us. “That’s gonna have to wait til we get on the ship, stud.” 

“Aww come on,” he huffed, “look she’s going back to sleep.” He nodded to the old woman who rolled her eyes and rested her head on the back of her seat.. “That’s not like you to stop me so fast,” he whispered and went back for my neck.  
  
“I promise when we get on the ship, you can have me any way you want me. But right now you need to behave yourself.” I kissed his cheek and closed my eyes, trying to block out the turbulence that was making the sandwich I ate before take off creep its way into my throat.   
  
I woke up a few hours later to the ding from the captain turning on the fasten seatbelt sign with my head resting on Josh’s shoulder. We were finally in Miami and the sun was just starting to come up. Josh’s buddy, Tyler, picked us up and fed us some breakfast at his place before he took us to the dock. We stood in line to get on the ship for what seemed like hours and by the time we got to our deck, we were all over each other.   
  
My jeans were unbuttoned in the elevator and his button down shirt was already halfway undone by the time we reached our room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Josh dropped the bags hes was carrying and threw himself at me like a wild animal. We hadn’t seen each other in a few days with Josh being in Vancouver for some press he was doing, so of course the second we got to be alone, we pretty much attacked each other.   
  
I shoved him onto the bed and ripped off what remaining clothes he had on. He growled and rolled me onto my back, lifting my shirt up over my head and pulling my jeans and panties off. He wasted no time once I was fully undressed and plowed into me like a bulldozer, letting out a satisfied groan when he was all the way inside of me.   
  
He  had all the determination that was in his eyes the first time we ever made love at the dolphin encounter facility he took me to a couple years ago. I pulled him down to so I could taste his lips on mine again. They were sweet and salty from the pancakes and bacon he ate earlier at breakfast.   
  
My legs wrapped around his waist, drawing our bodies even closer together and after a few minutes, the cries coming from our room could probably be heard from down the hall, but we didn’t care. His warm fluid shot into me in 3 quick spurts before he collapsed next to me and laid his head on my bare chest. He picked up my hand and held it in his, rubbing the charms on my bracelet with his thumb and forefinger.   
  
“Did you really hate me when we first met?” He said out of nowhere, still playing with my bracelet.

“I didn’t think too highly of you, that’s for sure. I thought you were a cocky, arrogant jackass.”

“And now?” he asked, looking up at me with those beautiful hazel eyes.

“You’re a jackass sometimes, but you’re my jackass and I love you more than anything in the world.” I smiled down at him.

He laughed and sat up to kiss me. “Well I take pride in being a jackass. And I love you too.”   
  
We got dressed and unpacked and after he forced me to eat something because I didn’t have much at breakfast, we walked around the ship, until it was time for the safety demonstration. A few of his fans were on board, but they didn’t really bother us because the whole world knew that he was in a long term relationship.   
  
I made sure to take Dramamine before going to bed that night because I knew I’d wake up seasick the next morning. It knocked me right out and sure enough, the next morning, we were miles in the middle of the ocean and I woke up feeling awful.  
  
Josh didn’t think the boat was rocking so bad, but I felt it all night. I ran out of bed and got sick in the bathroom, but didn’t tell Josh because I thought nothing of it and figured I’d feel better once I ate breakfast. This happened the next 4 mornings before Josh noticed. I’d get sick as soon as I woke up, and for the rest of the day I’d feel perfectly fine.  
  
We relived the day we had in Antigua a couple years ago and went to the shack that was on the other side of the island. The owner actually remembered us and figured we were there on our honeymoon. We both laughed at her and told her it was just a vacation. I ordered fish for lunch and devoured all of it. “I don’t understand how you can get sick this morning then sit there and eat that.”

“It’s probably just the rocking of the ship. I’m fine when I’m on land.”

The owner of the hut studied me when she overheard our conversation. “It could be morning sickness girl.”  
  
“No, no absolutely not. There’s no way in hell.” I shook my head. Josh’s face turned as white as a ghost and he tilted his head down and looked up at me.

“What if it is?”

“It’s not. No way. It’s impossible! I just switched to a stronger pill.” I spoke low so no one could hear me. “It’s just the ship.” I shook the possibility of me being pregnant out of my head for the rest of the day and made Josh forget about the idea when we fooled around on the little sandy beach we found a couple years ago.   
  
“But what if you were pregnant?” He brought up the topic again as we were on our way back to the ship.

“I’m not, would you stop? I’m telling you, I would know if I was pregnant or not and I’m not. Trust me.”

He wouldn’t let it go. “But it would be kind of cool having kid, you know? Like I could take him to Reds games and teach him how to spin a basketball on his finger.” Josh got a dreamy look on his face, making my heart melt into a puddle. “I don’t know, it’s just a thought. If you were, it would be pretty legit, that’s all.” He shrugged.

“There you go using legit again.” I smiled and rolled my eyes. “If I still don’t feel right tomorrow, I’ll take a test just in case, ok?”

“Deal.”

 


	36. Epilogue part 2

The next day I woke up feeling fine, no nausea at all. I stepped onto the balcony and took in the beautiful sights of Nassau. There was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders because I couldn’t bear the possibility of being pregnant right now. I had too much going on to even think about having a kid. I know Josh was excited about the possibility, but I wasn’t ready yet. He stepped out of the shower that morning and I hugged his still wet body with the good news that I was feeling fine. I couldn’t help but notice that he was a nervous wreck.   
  
“Baby, what’s the matter?” I stepped back to look at him. His face was flushed and he was breathing heavy.

“I’m fine,” he sighed, trying to keep calm.

“Are you sure? You’re a nervous fucking wreck.” He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and turned around to pick up his deodorant.

“Yes, I’m ok. I promise. I’m just excited for where we’re going later.”

“Where are we going?” I asked, watching him drop his towel and put on his bathing suit shorts. “And why did you shower if you’re putting your bathing suit on?”  
  
“I don’t know Sarah, I’m not thinking right today, ok? Just after what we talked about yesterday I’ve been a mess overthinking it.” He was rifling through the drawer to find a shirt to wear. I walked over to him and put my arms around his waist.

“Aww babe, it’s not something we need to think about right now, ok? Don’t worry. Let’s just have some fun today. Now where are we going?”

“I can’t tell you that. It’s a surprise.”  
  
After we ate breakfast, Josh was really antsy while we were waiting to exit the ship. When we got off, I still had no clue what he had up his sleeve. He led me to a marina a block away from the port where a small boat was waiting for us.  
  
“Ok, seriously, where are you taking me Joshua?” I asked, stepping on board.

“I told you.” He kissed me then put a blindfold over my eyes. “It’s a surprise.” He led me to sit down and the boat took off. We arrived 20 minutes later at our destination. He took the blindfold off my eyes, revealing that we were at Blue Lagoon Island, a sea lion and dolphin encounter facility.   
  
He laughed at me when my eyes lit up. I had been looking at this place online for a while and Josh made me think they were closed for maintenance when I saw that our cruise would be making a stop in Nassau.  
  
“You ass, you said it was closed!” I smacked his arm.

“It is closed. It’s all ours for the next couple hours. I arranged for us to get a special tour since I know you’re crazy obsessed with marine animals.”

“You’re so sweet. Thank you baby.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a kiss.   
  
We spent the next couple hours walking around the facility and spending some one on one time with the animals there. The trainers gave us instructions to get the dolphins to do back flips and other tricks for us.   
  
We were standing at the edge of the platform, watching the trainer work with the dolphins when I felt Josh’s eyes locked on me. I turned to look at him and he cleared his throat and shakily stuffed his hand into one of his pockets. Before I could think twice, he was on the ground in front of me on one knee, holding a small, velvet black box.  
  
My heart leaped into my throat when I saw him look up at me and said, “I can’t believe I’ve been waiting this long to do this.”

“Oh my God!” I gasped, holding my hand over my mouth. 

“You know I’ve been carrying this damn thing around for the last 2 months, waiting for us to get here because I wanted this day to be special for you?”

“Oh my God!” I said again with tears starting to sting my eyes.  
  
“Will you marry me Sarah?” he asked, opening the box and taking out a beautiful engagement ring. 

“Oh my God!” I started shaking and held out my hand as the tears started falling from my face.

“Is that all you can say right now?” he laughed, looking up at my face and taking my hand. 

“Oh my God! Yes!” I shouted. He smiled wide and stood up to wrap his arms around my waist. I took his face in my hands and planted a kiss on his soft lips and we stood there for a while, holding onto each other and taking in the excitement that the day held for us.   
  
“I love you more than anything,” he whispered with his forehead pressed against mine.

“Ditto.” I smiled back at him.  
  
  
We spent the rest of the day and night celebrating and telling practically everyone we saw on the ship who cared to listen. The captain made it a point to come to our table at dinner to congratulate us personally with a champagne toast. It was all too perfect.   
  
“You know what would be kind of fun?” Josh asked as we were finishing dinner.

“Oh God, whenever you say that, we always get into trouble.”

“No, it’s nothing crazy.” He swallowed his food and leaned in close. “Let’s pretend like we don’t know each other and I’ll pick you up in a bar.” He got a sly grin on his face.  
  
“You’re serious right now?” 

“Hell yeah I’m serious. I’m a great actor. I can fool anyone.”

“Yes. Yes you can.” I smiled, thinking back to when we first met and he convinced an older couple that we were on our honeymoon. “Alright.” I stood up from my chair and dropped my napkin. “You’re gonna have to come and find me.” I winked and walked away.   
  
I sat and grabbed a drink at the Rising Tide bar and examined the ring that now rested on my left hand. I thought about what Josh was going to be like as a husband and a father someday. I knew he’d put as much care and love into it as he does with anything.  
  
“Excuse me miss, is this seat taken?” A raspy voice said from behind me. I smiled, but remembered we were playing a game, and turned around to face him. 

“It is now.” I swung back around and patted the empty stool next to me. He shook his head and sat down next to me, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top two buttons on his shirt.  
  
“What’s your name, beautiful?” He tilted his head to the side, flashing me a cocky smile.

“I’m engaged.” I held up my shiny hand and gave him a friendly smile. 

“Wow. Where’s your douchebag fiance then? He shouldn’t leave you alone.” 

I looked around like I was looking for someone. “He’s around here somewhere, trying to get laid.” 

He chuckled and tapped his fingers on the bar and ordered his drink. A bourbon on the rocks. “So what’s your name?”

“Why do you want to know my name so bad?”

“Because I want to know what I should be screaming in bed later,” he whispered, with the most serious face. 

“Oh brother. You know my fiance will be here any minute and he’ll kick your ass if he sees you talking to me. I suggest you mosey along now.”

“Fine, I’ll go, but tell me your name first.”  
  
“Sarah.” I held out my hand, which he willingly grabbed and shook.

“Sarah, nice to meet you.” He got up off the bar stool and downed the rest of the bourbon. “Now.” He cleared his throat and whispered, “Do you honestly think I can’t rock your world better than he can?” He inched even closer to my ear. “Sarah?” The smell of the whiskey on his breath made my hormones go crazy.  
  
I couldn’t hold it in, I let the smile escape my lips. He smiled when he saw the look on my face. That smug, cocky smile that I hated so much.

“You’re proud of yourself right now, aren’t you, Hutcherson?”

“Possibly.” And with that, he turned around, sticking his hand in his pocket and walked out of the bar.   
  
I got up from the bar and followed him to the elevator and we didn’t acknowledge me, he just politely smiled and nodded, trying really hard to keep a straight face. We stepped in and he hit the button for our floor.  
  
“What floor?” he asked. 

“Same one as you.”

“Oh so you’re following me now, aren’t you?”

“Uh huh,” I nodded proudly.  
  
I followed him into our room and closed the door behind me and watched him get undressed. He undid his tie and unbuttoned his shirt before carefully placing it over the back of a chair. His belt came off next, followed by his shoes, pants and socks.  
  
He walked over to me and without saying a word, spun me around so my back was facing him and he unzipped my dress and let it fall to the floor. My hair was brushed off my shoulder and he placed small kisses on the bare skin leading up to my neck. “I love you,” he whispered, continuing to kiss me.   
  
I turned around and he took my hand and led me to the balcony. We were staying in one of the royal suites that had a private hot tub outside. He pressed the button for the jets and inched my panties off my hips and let them fall to my ankles. He bent down and took one of my breasts in his mouth while I ran my hand along his length from the outside of his boxers before pulling them down. “Get in.” He motioned to the hot tub and took off his undershirt.   
  
I stepped into the hot water and took a moment to get used to the temperature. “So you really think you can rock my world better than my fiance can?” I provoked.

He chuckled as he sat down in the tub. “Oh you have no idea how bad I need to fuck you right now, Sarah. You bet your ass I’m gonna rock the shit out of your world.”   
  
We spent that night and next day at sea doing nothing but staying in bed, rocking each other’s worlds over and over again. I was completely exhausted when we finally got home, both from the sex and from the excitement of getting engaged.   
  
  
  
A few weeks after we got home from the cruise, there were a few mornings where I didn’t feel very well. I didn’t tell Josh because I didn’t want to get him all excited about it. So just to calm my nerves, I went to the doctor to get looked at. She had a smile on her face when she walked into the room, holding a packet of papers.  
  
“So, Sarah tell me, are you married?” she asked.

“No, I’m engaged. It just happened a few weeks ago actually,” I smiled, showing her the ring.

“That’s beautiful, when is the wedding?” 

“Uh, we actually just set a date, it’s about a year from now, why?” I asked curiously.

“Well, it looks like your fiance will become a daddy before he becomes a husband. You’re pregnant.”


End file.
